How I Accidentally Got Married to My Stepbrother
by J.S. Goldberg
Summary: One fateful night, stepsibs Casey and Derek accidentally get married. What will happen? How will Nora and George feel? And will they even want a divorce? DASEY!
1. Prologue

How I Accidentally Got Married to My Stepbrother

Prologue

* * *

_Derek Venturi…Ah, there is so many things I could say about him. First of all, he's my stepbrother. At first we never got along. Heck, we didn't get along pretty much the whole time. We still don't get along that great. But I digress… Second, he's a "player" on the outside. He went out with a lot of girls but I knew it was only on the outside that he was a player. I mean, there had to be a softer side to him. Right?_

_Well I sure hope so. And lastly, Derek Venturi is my…husband. Yeah, that's right. Derek Venturi is my husband. I'm sure by now everyone is screaming "WHAT?!" at the computer screen or is laughing like crazy thinking that it's a joke. Well, hate to break it to you but this is no joke my friends/readers. I'm married to my stepbrother. Now, how could I break the news to you and not explain the story? That'd be wrong. Well, this started out as a blog but now…it's turning into my life story. I call it, "How I Accidentally Got Married to My Stepbrother."_

_Stay tuned for the next post!_

_Love,_

_Casey Venturi_

* * *

_A/N: Hey everyone. Ok, here's whats up. You know my story "Marriage 101"? Well this is a different version of it. The plot is slightly different. When I made the trailer I had two thoughts in mind. And then when I decided to make a fanfiction out of I decided to write both versions. I will make a trailer for this version...however it'll have to wait until I can get the episode "Things That Go Bump In the Night". I was suddenly in a writing mood and started writing the prologue of this. And I thought I'd post this while I go back to Microsoft Word and work on chapter 3 of Marriage 101. The prologue is a blog Casey wrote but the rest of the story isn't going to be a blog. Hope you like this so far. Please review!_


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Whoa. That was all I could say when we stepped into the lobby of the hotel. I stared at my mom and George's backs incredulously- not that they could see my face anyway. They looked at each other with grins and George pecked my mom on the lips. Lizzie and Edwin took a spot on these two huge, comfy chairs. Edwin had out a notebook- probably working on a scheme of some sort. Lizzie closed her eyes and most likely drifted to dream land. My mom and George went to the front desk with Marti. So, that left me standing with the big lump in our family. AKA my step brother Derek.

I couldn't believe this place. The white marble floors had a maroon colored rug over it where the couch and chairs were and the front desk had marble countertops. The elevators doors were a shiny gold. I could practically see myself in them. Heck, I could see myself in the floors. They obviously kept this place in tip top condition. I huffed and pursed my lips. I only had one question and that was how could we afford to stay in this hotel?

"You know? You _would_ be the only person angry about being in sin city," Derek said with a crooked grin. My eyes met his and I only narrowed mine further.

"I'm not big on sins like someone else in this very room," I retorted. Derek glanced behind himself and all around before facing me.

"Me?" he asked with mock shock. I rolled my eyes. "Casey, what have I always said?" I only shrugged. "Live a little dangerously."

"Oh such great advice! Every time I listen to you it always ends up horrible. Exhibit A: we throw party, I join in, we get caught, grounded, and I am stuck cleaning the mess-"

"Please don't go onto exhibits B and C. I don't need a lecture on things that have happened in the past. I _was_ there, you know?" he said diverting his eyes over to a light fixture. I rolled my eyes and kept quiet as mom and George were returning. George looked normal but my mom was fidgeting and had that weird smile she does when she knows something is going to happen that I don't like.

"Um, mom? Is everything alright?"

"Well, we had a little bit of a mix up with rooms. We meant to get three: one for you and Lizzie, Derek and Edwin, and then us with Marti but they only booked us for two rooms. So, um. The four of you will have to share a room," she rambled. My jaw dropped and Derek gritted his teeth.

"I CAN'T SHARE A ROOM WITH HIM!"

"I CAN'T SHARE A ROOM WITH HER!"

"I'm sorry. For now, that's the only thing we can think of. We'll think about it more later but for now it's how it is. Don't worry. It will probably change tomorrow morning," my mom said calmly. I faced the facts: it didn't matter how much I whined or complained and I was going to lose no matter what.

Realizing those facts, I stomped my foot in agitation and grabbed my bags. I angrily grabbed the room key and started to head upstairs. "Lizzie come on!" She shot up from her chair and followed- dragging Edwin along. I glanced behind me to see Derek trudging along. I growled under my breath. Could this be any worse? It was supposed to be the best vacation ever but it got totally screwed over. First, I was stuck in Vegas- the cheesiest, filthiest, most disgusting place I ever heard about the U.S. But now, I had to share a room with Edwin and Derek?! My boots stomped harder with each step.

"Um, I know you're kind of psycho angry right now but why couldn't we have taken the elevator?"

I stopped and turned towards Derek. He was looking at me with a smirk. I rolled my eyes and just kept going. I noticed Lizzie shoot Edwin a worried glance before I fully turned around. I finally looked at the room key and figured out we had one more flight of stairs to go. We finally reached our room moments later- or so it seemed.

I opened the door and flung my bags on the bed. I turned around to get a glass of water when I stopped in my tracks. I turned around and horror flitted across my face- I was sure of it. ONE BED?! My eyes locked with Derek's and he growled.

"Oh no! You and Lizzie can take the couch bed. Edwin and I get the good bed," he said. I growled.

"No! Lizzie and I get the good bed!"

"Why should you?!"

"Why should YOU?!"

"GUYS! QUIET!"

We both looked down at Lizzie and were both shocked she would scream at us to stop bickering. That was usually Nora and George's job.

"Look, Edwin and I have a solution," she said with a wicked grin.

XOX

"This is so childish. I can't believe I got talked into this," I huffed. I crossed my arms over my chest and glanced at Derek- who was sitting on the bed beside me. The "solution" was to see who could sit on the bed the longest. I voiced how ridiculous I thought it was and then Derek was talking about how much he could beat me…and now I was roped into doing this. He grinned at me.

"I am very persuasive, especially with two other people already on my side," he said- now with a smirk on his face. I pouted and looked at the ceiling. We had already been sitting there for an hour. Lizzie, Marti, and Edwin went to go play around somewhere- maybe up to schemes- while Mom and George hit the slot machines and such in the Casino. I sighed. We were too young to even get into the Casino and too old to want to go where Lizzie, Marti, and Edwin were. This officially sucked.

"So," I said looking straight ahead of me- which was the TV. "Want to watch some TV?" He shrugged and then noticed that the remote was on the coffee table. I groaned.

"Want to go get the remote, Case?" he asked with that smirk again.

"It's alright Derek. You can go get it."

"Ah, but it was _your_ idea so I'll let you go get it."

"Actually, I'm suddenly not in the mood for TV."

"Me either."

"Ok then."

"Alright."

I decided it was going to be a long night so I lied down and closed my eyes. It only felt like a minute had gone by when I felt a poke in my side. I sighed but kept my eyes closed. Poke. I turned over to my side so that my back was facing Derek. He poked me again.

"Derek, what do you want?"

"I have the craziest idea ever! A way to have some fun around here," he said with such enthusiasm. I sat back up and stared at him- waiting for his idea. "Don't you want to hear it?"

"No but go ahead anyway."

"We should get married!"

"Ha ha. Very hilarious, Derek. Now let me go to sleep."

"Will you just hear me out?" I sighed and nodded him to go on. "Look, it'll be this fun little joke. You know how Nora and my dad always encourage us to get along? Well, if we get _married_ it'd be so funny. Because we could be all, 'Hey guys, we're getting along cause we're married!' It would be so funny," he said with a wide grin on his face.

"I don't know Derek. Getting married? Isn't that a bit…_extreme_ for a joke?" I countered calmly. He rolled his eyes.

"It'll be funny. And then all we have to do is annul it the next day. It'll be fine."

"Wait a minute. How do I know this isn't some scheme cooked up to get me to get off the bed and for you to win?" I asked narrowing my eyes. He sighed and jumped off the bed.

"See. You win. Now lets go before all the wedding chapels close," he said pulling on my hand. I didn't budge.

"Don't we need our parents consent since we're minors? My mom and George would never let us do this," I said. He couldn't argue with me there and I had to hide the smile about to grow on my face. Suddenly, he grinned. Dang it.

"I have an idea."

XOX

"I can't believe you got George and my mom to sign that! How did you do it?" I shouted in a whisper voice. Lizzie had come back up to use the restroom- she didn't trust the public ones. I didn't blame her. Derek smirked at me.

"I have my ways."

"You tricked them didn't you?"

He glanced down at the piece of paper and had a shocked look on his face.

"You mean, this ISN'T a parent consent form to let us into a hip, teen lounge?"

I couldn't help but giggle. It was all too funny. I could finally understand his strange mind for once. This was actually very fun. Almost as much fun as when we snuck out to that party…well _almost_ snuck out. We ended up denting George's car and I ended up never going anywhere.

"So, what's the plan?"

"My plan is to just sneak out. Dad and Nora are still at the Casino and Lizzie is going to be heading back down to play with Edwin. It'll be perfect," he smirked. I pursed my lips. "Don't worry. This time we won't have to worry about denting anyone's car." I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Funny," was all I said.

"I thought so. Now let's go," he said grabbing my hand and pulling me out of the room. I followed and pulled my hand out of his as soon as I could. We caught a cab and he dropped us off at the nearest chapel.

Derek and I stood in front of the chapel and I gulped. This was becoming so real now. It suddenly reached the front of my head what we were really doing. We were getting _married_! We took a sacred ceremony of love and were turning it into a big joke. But I couldn't object now. We were already here with the papers ready. I looked over at Derek and he was already looking at me.

"Let's do this, the future Mrs. Venturi," he said with a smirk. I smacked his arm and started to walk inside- he quickly caught up with me. As we stepped in, we were suddenly greeted by a man with great enthusiasm.

"Well HELLO! How can I help you folks today?" he asked grinning. It took all my might not to grimace. I looked up at Derek and we shared a grin. The man before us was tall, skinny, and lanky. He was very scrawny and Derek could probably take him no problem. I imagined them fighting and I had to stifle a giggle. His grin widened and he had a few crooked teeth. His hair was a complete mess. It was curly and just a big pile of poof.

"Um, we want to get married," Derek said wrapping his arm around my waist. I was about to pull it off when I remembered we were supposed to be in love. I glanced up at Derek and forced a wide smile on my face. When I looked back at the gangly man he was scrutinizing us with his eyes.

"How old are y'all?"

"Well, I'm seventeen and she's sixteen. Is that a problem, sir?" Derek answered again.

"Aww, young love is always the cutest. I can see it in your eyes. You truly are perfect for each other. But I'm going to need a parent's permission first," he said with a slight pout but keeping himself enthused. Derek and I grinned at each other.

"Already taken care of, " I said as Derek handed him the paper. He scanned it and looked at us with a huge grin.

"Well come on then lovebirds. Martha and Tom will get you guys ready and glammed up. Congrats you two," he said pushing us off to another room.

The last thing I saw was Derek before Martha dragged me off to a room to get ready for my wedding. My wedding with Derek Venturi. I gulped.

Martha sat me down and showed me a couple of dresses to choose from. I chose the simplest out of all of them. It was, of course, white. It was strapless and it went down to the floor almost. I left my boots on though. After I got dressed, Martha sat me down in a chair to do my hair. She curled it and put a couple pins in it. It was almost the same look I had at the prom- the second time; not the fiasco poodle look. I did my own make up and she took me to a mirror. I gaped at my appearance. I actually looked…stunning. Martha smiled at her work. I looked so much more sophisticated.

"He is a lucky young man," Martha said with a small smile. I grinned at her in the mirror. What would I say if I were really in love with him?

"I'm the lucky one," I replied in a heartbeat. Funny how the words came to me so easily. I pondered why as we left the room and into the chapel area part of it. But when I saw Derek standing at the altar all those thoughts fled my mind. A new group of thoughts filled my head.

Derek actually cleaned up pretty damn good. I shyly looked up at him and his lips were slightly parted as if he was amazed by something. It only lasted a short minute before his smirk took place on his face. I couldn't help but grin back. I looked at Martha and- who I figured was- Tom. They looked at us with these huge grins. Hmm, it felt so wrong to fool them. I shook away those thoughts and my eyes flittered to the man marrying us. He was also grinning at us.

Derek took both my hands in his and they were strangely comforting. His thumb was tracing circles on my skin and I wondered why he was even doing that. Did we really have to make such small gestures of affection to prove how in love we were? I let that thought leave quickly too because the gesture was comforting as well. I looked up into his eyes and I was almost in a trance. I couldn't believe I was actually doing this.

I was getting married to _Derek_. He was the bane of my existence. The stepbrother I loved to hate and I was sharing a ceremony of love with him? I knew how wrong it was but somewhere in my heart I knew it was right. My face contorted into something of confusion and worry. Derek gripped my hands harder and when I looked up he had this look as if asking me what was wrong. I placed a grin on my face and shook my head. This was silly. It was just a joke. This whole wedding meant nothing to either of us. Why should I let it bother me so much? Besides, we were going to get it annulled tomorrow anyway.

He smiled at me and then we turned to the man before us. The pastor grinned and then continued on with the ceremony.

* * *

_I can't believe I wrote the prologue in January and didn't finish chapter 1 until now. I actually didn't start writing this until today. Anyways, thanks to Veronica for letting me use her idea for this story. It's been so much fun to write so far. I'm loving it. Hopefully the next chapter will be soon. Especially since school is out...I no longer have an excuse for me not to have quick updates. I'm shocked and amazed that with only a little prologue got 20 reviews, 27 alerts, and 7 favorites. It really means a lot you guys. Thanks so much. Hopefully this story will live up to your expectations and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it. Thanks!_

_J.S. Goldberg_


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"I now pronounce you _husband_ and _wife_. You may _kiss_ the _bride_."

Oh god. I hadn't thought about that part at all. And by the look on Derek's face neither did he. He smiled and took a step forward. How was it that he could look so calm, cool, and collected? His eyes glinted with both worry and amusement. I bit my lip for a split second and then inhaled a breath. I closed my eyes and soon I felt Derek's lips on mine.

It was such a strange feeling. I gasped and I held onto him tighter. An electric feeling was tingling on my lips and my heart was beating a mile per second. I felt my stomach flip and flop and it was enough to make me feel sick. Derek's hand was on my cheek and then he was cupping my face. He gently but forcefully pulled my face away from his. Suddenly, I felt very self conscious. Tom and Martha were grinning at us.

"S-sorry. Guess I got a little out of hand," I said shyly. Derek grinned.

"A little? Sweetie, save it for the honeymoon," he smirked. I smacked his arm playfully and then we walked down the isle with Martha and Tom behind us. I followed Martha into the dressing room and changed back into my regular clothes. She grinned the whole time but never uttered a word- until Derek and I were leaving. She gave a small congratulations and that was it. Derek and I walked down the sidewalk holding hands and caught a cab.

Once we got in we both sat on either end of the cab. Derek was staring out the window bobbing his head and tapping his fingers on his jeans as if there was a good song playing at the moment. I- on the other hand- had my hand on my forehead with my eyes closed. I suddenly realized what a long day it had been and I felt myself nodding off. I didn't even remember how I got into the room. I vaguely remember hearing someone telling me to change and then getting guided to the couch bed but that was the last thing I could remember.

Before I knew it- it was morning.

I felt something hot beating down on my face and it was uncomfortable. I groaned and turned over to my other side. I then realized that the back of my neck was getting hot now. I groaned again in frustration and then realized it was the sun. The sun meant one thing- it was morning. I shot up in bed and my eyes widened. I looked all around but no one was left in the room. I glanced at the nightstand beside me and saw a little note.

_Case,_

_We left for breakfast and didn't want to wake you. See you later, wifey._

_Love, Derek_

I gulped and re-read the note a thousand times. Wifey? Love, _Derek_? Suddenly, everything was becoming very clear. I fell back down on the bed with my eyes as wide as they would go. My lips were slightly parted.

"Oh. My. God."

I had to have been the most idiotic person on the planet. Wait- that was Derek. I couldn't believe what he got us into! Getting married? AS A JOKE?! What was he thinking? What was _I_ thinking? Why did I ever listen to Derek? Why did I even _consider_ listening to Derek? Yeah we were bored but that didn't give us the right to get our parents to unknowingly sign a permission form to let us get married and then actually going through with the ceremony! I gulped again. Ohh Casey Casey Casey. Look what living in the same house as Derek done to you!

How could I have been so foolish? This is exactly what happened before- the time when we snuck out to go to Tim Burton's party. Yes, it was the party of the year, but it was still a foolish thing for me to do. And yet- I had done it. Technically I didn't because we hit George's car, dented it, and then snuck up back into our rooms. Derek left again without me but that isn't the point. The point is that I was willing to do all of that. And even after that one mistake- did I learn? After tonight I'd say "no I did not".

Get me to do something outrageous and stupid once: shame on you. Get me to do something outrageous and stupid twice: shame on me! Shame on _me_! I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Then another memory kicked in.

_"I don't know Derek. Getting married? Isn't that a bit…__extreme__ for a joke?" I countered calmly. He rolled his eyes._

"_It'll be funny. And then all we have to do is annul it the next day. It'll be fine."_

I took a breath of relief. Yes we may have done something idiotic but he _did_ think of the day after. We were getting it annulled…everything was going to be fine. With those thoughts I smiled and sprang out of bed. I went to go take a shower and then I noticed the ring on my finger. How could I have missed it before- I had no clue. I muttered a profanity under my breath and continued getting ready.

XOX

Derek was wrong. I was wrong- so very, terribly wrong. As I was walking towards the table my family was sitting at I felt my stomach churn and churn with guilt and nervousness. What if they knew? What if just by looking at my face they knew that Derek and I got married last night? I gulped. It couldn't have been true but my warped, nervous brain was putting those silly thoughts in my head. And at the time they didn't sound so silly. I took a deep breath and continued toward my descent to the table.

If I was trying to appear as calm, cool, and collected it didn't work. I stumbled and almost ran into a guy. I finally sat down and to my unfortunate luck I had to sit next to Derek. This only made my heart pound faster. The object of my guilt was right next to me. And you know what made it worse? We were sitting directly across from George and my mom. This made it easy to see my face which would give away our secret prank. I stole a glance at Derek and he was smirking at me.

"Morning," Derek mumbled. My brain was feeling frazzled.

"Morning, honey," I muttered without thinking. Lizzie's head snapped up and Nora looked at me strangely. Uh oh. I guess I was still in the pretend-to-be-in-love-with-Derek mode from last night. "Um…I meant could someone pass me the honey?"

"You hate honey- after Derek smothered your hair with it. The stench makes you puke," Lizzie said. The memories suddenly came back and the thought of honey only made my flopping stomach worse.

"Ohh, right. Then can I just have some jam. And thanks to whoever got my plate of food," I muttered in response.

"No problem, sweetie," my mom said. "So, did you two have fun last night? Must have been crazy, eh?"

My eyes widened and I almost choked on my orange juice. Then I suddenly remembered she was talking about the teen club.

"It was fun. Totally rocking," I rasped.

"Casey, are you ok? You seem off this morning," my mom said with a pout on her lips and concern etched on her face. I put on a smile.

"I'm fine. I'm just still waking up," I said with a forced laugh. She grinned and continued to eat her eggs. I glanced back at Derek and he smirked at me. I rolled my eyes and then he winked. I sighed and continued to eat my toast.

"Casey?"

"Yes, Liz?" I asked without looking up.

"What's that on your left hand?"

I froze- mid bite. I slowly looked up to see my confused sister. I finished biting and as I did so I glanced at Derek's hand. His was ring free- a smart guy.

"Um, all the girls who went to the club last night got rings…some weird thing," Derek said. He truly was a good liar because I almost believed him. Lizzie still seemed confused.

"Hmm…it almost looked like a wedding ring to me," she said with a giggle. Oh no! They saw through my phony façade. My heart beating was the only thing I could hear anymore. I couldn't hear the rest of Lizzie's sentence or feel Derek poking my knee under the table. I also didn't hear my mom asking if I was alright. I gulped and my eyes bugged out. I was breathing unevenly and I could feel their scrutinizing eyes on me. They knew. They had to have known. And that's when I couldn't take it anymore.

"DEREK AND I GOT MARRIED!"

It got very silent and still. Lizzie slowly turned her head away from Edwin- him doing the same from Lizzie. They both had shock all over their faces. George was confused and my mom was well... a mixture of shock and possibly some anger. Marti looked at everyone at the table like I had just told everyone that the sky was blue- like it was no big deal. I also heard the clatter of silverware from the boy next to me. I gulped.

"You and Derek…_what_?" my mom asked slowly. I felt Derek frantically tapping my knee but I didn't care. Half of it was out of the bag- might as well confess the whole thing.

"Me and Derek got married. We were so bored in the room and Derek came up with this fun little thing to do. So we tricked you into signing a permission slip to giving consent on us getting married and then we went to some chapel near the hotel and got married. We thought it'd be ironically funny since we never get along. But it was horrible 'cause we had to pretend to be in love and he kept touching me. And then I had to change into this dress and when I walked out Derek was looking good in his tux…and THEN we had to kiss and for being his step sister it had to have been the most amazing kiss EVER! But anyways, so we get in a cab and the next thing I know its morning. Ohh, and we were going to get it annulled today before we left tomorrow morning so it really isn't a big deal. Funny, huh?"

At the end of my rant I took a huge breath. I was relieved. I smiled and looked around the table. Edwin, Lizzie, and Marti's mouths were completely dropped, George had this glazed over look and my mom's was of fury and utter confusion. Derek was grinning.

"Look, it was all an accident and um, this experience actually brought me and Casey together. We came together for a common goal: to have a good laugh. Well we laughed and everything so we're good. Right, Casey?" He didn't wait for my response. He wrapped his arms around me. "This means me and Casey are cooperating together."

"A joke? Let's see. You snuck out to a place where we didn't know you would be, you _tricked_ us, and you took a precious ceremony and _mock_ed it. If you were pulling for a joke it didn't strike me as being very funny," my mom said in a low voice. I gulped.

"But we were gonna get it annulled today. I mean, what happens in Vegas…stays in Vegas, eh?" Derek joked.

"Son, not the best times to be making wise cracks," George piped in.

"George and I are going to discuss this. In the meantime, the four of you can go back to your room. And you better _stay _there. We'll come get you when we're ready to talk," Nora said finally before getting up from the table with George and Marti.

As Lizzie, Edwin, Derek, and I walked to our room I knew one thing- we were totally and completely screwed.

* * *

_Hey everybody! I am back with another chapter. YAY! I suddenly felt like writing and so I decided to work on chapter two. Yes it is a little bit shorter than my normal chapters but I felt the need to end it where I did. Haha. Kind of a cliff hanger. This was a very entertaining chapter to write. A guilty Casey is a funny Casey. And I have 52 reviews? WOW! And all I posted was the prologue and chapter 1! I am _not_ complaining. In fact, keep them coming. This is truly amazing. It makes me happy and it really motivates me to keep writing. 30 reviews alone for the last chapter. I am shocked. I truly appreciate it you guys. Thank you SO MUCH! For the anonymous reviewers: THANK YOU SO MUCH TOO! If I wanted to say something to each of you personally, I can't remember considering it is past 3 in the morning. Haha. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review. No flames please. But if you had any constructive criticism: that is totally welcome. Well, I'm gonna shut up now and go to bed. Night/morning people!_

_J.S. Goldberg_

_P.S. If I didn't reply to a review of yours: I'm sorry. I must have been either busy or in a lazy mood. Haha. Hope ya forgive me._


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I paced the room back and forth frantically. I just did something really stupid. I take that back. I did a _lot_ of stupid things in the past two days. 1. I listened to Derek. 2. I got married to Derek for a _joke_. 3. I confessed to my mom and George…about _everything_. The bit about Derek and me kissing was unnecessary. It was true but I really wish I hadn't told anyone- let alone tell it to the world! I groaned and continued to pace back and forth.

But there was one thing that seemed to feel dumber than all of that: I actually _enjoyed _kissing him. How silly is that? I must be going to hell. When those soft lips of his touched mine it was like the hallelujah chorus went off in my head. AH! What am I saying? This is my _stepbrother_. We've lived in the same house for over a year, he's a slacker, a total manipulator, a pranker, and a boy with really good kissing abilities. Oh my god. There was something seriously wrong with me. As soon as we got back to Canada I was going to go straight to Paul's office. I pursed my lips and nodded. Then I whimpered and shook my head.

Who was I kidding? I couldn't tell Paul that. If I did he'd probably tell my mom and then she might do something drastic. She might send me off to an insane asylum or take me for deeper therapy…or worse: leave George. I couldn't do that to my mom. She's been so happy since she married George. I would feel awful if she had to break it off just because her daughter had a lapse in brain function because her hormones kicked in when a really hot guy kissed her….who happened to be her stepbrother. AH! I just called him hot. Snap out of it Casey! I was about to slap myself when I realized that would have looked ridiculous.

"Will you stop? You're starting to make _me_ worry," Derek said staring at me from the bed. I stopped pacing and stood there staring back. Oh dear lord. He was in that same sitting position as the time he talked about sneaking out for that party. It was very suggestive and my heart was racing. He looked so good and it was like his body was calling to me. I gulped and he must have noticed because he smirked at me.

"I have a question," Edwin piped up. I glared at him because he just interrupted the beginning of my fantasy. No, that's a good thing. I turned my glare into a grin and nodded him to go on. "Why did you guys do it?"

"Um…Derek, why _did_ we do it because I don't seem to recall why on earth I'd agree to marrying _you_?"

He rolled his eyes and got up from the bed. He slowly made his way towards me and lazily wrapped his arm around my shoulders. "It was for a joke. I thought it'd be ironically funny since we never get along. I mean Derek and Casey getting married, who would guess?"

"He's right about that much," Lizzie laughed. I narrowed my eyes at my little sister.

"Do not encourage him."

"But what I don't understand is why _Casey_ did it," Edwin said after pausing in thought.

"I did it because at the time I found it to be very funny," I said crossing my arms over my chest.

"But you never think his plans, schemes, or jokes are funny. Why would this time be any different?" Lizzie asked. I opened my mouth to speak but the stepbrother beside me cut me off.

"Probably because she's in love with me," he laughed as he bumped his hip against mine. It was my turn to roll my eyes.

"As if."

A knock on the door ended our discussion and Derek and I exchanged a worried look. I gulped and let my head fall to his shoulder. As soon as I realized what I did my head snapped back up. Derek didn't seem to notice and if he did he didn't show it. Edwin opened the door and in walked mom and George. They both had their lips pursed and had stern expressions. I gulped again. We messed up…big time.

"Edwin and Lizzie, why don't you two go hang out with Marti? We need to have a chat with Derek and Casey," my mom said as she took a seat on the couch with George. Edwin and Lizzie raced out of the room- although knowing them they were going to try and listen through the door. Derek and I took a seat on the coffee table across from them and I shifted uncomfortably.

"Um, can I say something first?" I asked. They nodded at me. "Look, we know it was a stupid thing to do but we understand now how stupid it really was. We're really sorry and I can assure you we have learned our lesson- at least I know I have."

"We understand how sorry you both are but this will be a lesson to you: there are consequences for your actions. I think you need to experience it before you can finally grasp that concept. So with that being said we have decided on your punishment," my mother said calmly. I inwardly groaned and looked down at my hands which were in my lap. Here comes being grounded for an eternity.

"We want you two to stay married," George said.

My head snapped up and I looked from George to my mom.

"_What_?" Derek asked beside me.

"You two wanted to get married well then by golly you two will stay that way," George said with a grin. My jaw dropped.

"We aren't getting it annulled?!" I practically shouted. They both grinned back at us.

"That's right. Until you two can act and take responsibility as a married couple and understand the true value of uniting as a whole with another person, you can get it annulled. But until that moment, you two will continue to stay Mr. and Mrs. Derek Venturi."

"How could you possibly know that?" Derek asked.

"Oh we'll know. Now, we'll have to discuss the arrangements when we arrive back home," my mom said.

"The…_arrangements_?" I repeated. She grinned and nodded.

"That's right. Well, George and I are going to go see if our lucky streak can continue. You both can stay right up here. I'm sure you both have a lot of talking to do. Oh, don't forget to set your alarms. Our plane leaves at one so get up around nine-ish."

XOX

Sleep that night was a horrible one. So many things were replaying back in my mind. It was like a movie inside my head. I constantly woke up. It sure annoyed Lizzie. I ended up just getting up at six in the morning; which was probably the reason why I was falling asleep on the plane ride home. I was just so tired. Unfortunately, I was stuck sitting next to Derek. My mom, Marti, and George sat two rows ahead of us, Lizzie, Edwin, and this other girl they made friends with in the row ahead of us…which left us sitting next to each other. I had been so angry but I was too tired to put energy into an argument I knew I wasn't going to win.

I yawned and felt my head tilt back onto the seat. My eyes drifted close and my mind was slowly drifting into unconsciousness.

Derek was standing in his suite at the altar of the wedding chapel. I was slowly walking down the isle while Tom and Martha watched. The closer I got my heart raced faster. His cute, charming smile was making me melt inside. The pastor soon announced we were married and it was time for his soft lips to touch mine.

He was grinning and he ran his hands down my bare arms. His skin against mine felt so soothing. I closed my eyes and sighed in complete bliss. I opened my eyes and his face was near inches from mine. He leaned in for the kiss and I closed my eyes and puckered.

"Casey," he whispered in my ear.

"Mmmm," I said with a sigh.

"Casey, it's time," he whispered- his hot breath on my skin sending chills up my spine.

"Time for what?" I asked breathlessly.

"Time to wake up."

My eyes snapped open and I looked up. Derek was grinning down at me. I suddenly realized my head was leaning against his chest. I shot out of my position and accidentally cracked my neck in the process.

"Ouch!"

"You probably shouldn't move that fast after sleeping in a weird position for awhile. That might happen," he laughed. I rolled my eyes.

"No kidding."

"So what boy were you dreaming about?" he asked with a smirk. My eyebrows furrowed together and my face contorted into a confused expression. "Your lips were puckered and you had this dreamy look on your face. It was actually kind of cute." I felt my cheeks burn and I looked away. Derek did not just call me cute. Calm down you stupid heart of mine. He merely said one of my actions was cute. There's a huge difference between the two. I merely shrugged. "Anyway, the plane landed."

After we got all of our luggage, we got into three separate cabs. George, Edwin, and Marti got in one cab, mom and Lizzie in the second cab, and me and Derek in the third one. I groaned. Of _course_ they would lump us together.

The car ride was uneventful surprisingly. The real surprise was when we got home. Before we could head to our rooms, George and mom stopped us.

"Derek and Casey, we need to discuss the arrangements now," Nora said. I sighed as we both took a seat. "Now, you have two options. Option one: you both sleep in Derek's room. Option two: one of you sleeps in his room and the other sleeps on the couch. _However_, since this time is technically your honeymoon time you both are required to sleep in the same room for the rest of the week."

"Mom! This is totally unfair!" I shouted.

"Casey, this is what married couples do. Now, despite the fact that you both are _married_ I do not want any fooling around up there. This is still our house and you will follow our rules. No sex whatsoever."

"Ew! Like I'd ever want to have sex with her," Derek said with a disgusted expression. I slapped him. "I mean, ohh yea! Bring on the sex, Case. I totally want to tap that ass of yours." I slapped him again.

"What kind of girl do you think I am?!" I screamed. I started to stomp up the stairs.

"I can't win."

"That's marriage son. Men are never right," George chuckled. Those were the last things I heard before I walked into my room and slammed the door. I collapsed onto my bed and closed my eyes. Derek's words focused in my mind. "_I totally want to tap that ass of yours._" The worst part of it all was that I really liked what he said. I grabbed a pillow and screamed into it.

* * *

_Hey everybody! I am back with yet another chapter. The end was very entertaining to write. It's a little OOC but oh well. A little OOC couldn't hurt anybody. I hope you liked this chapter. It might have been on the short side but its a chapter. I will try to keep this short although I can't make any promises. I can't believe how many reviews I got. It is unreal! Thank you so much! I'd also REALLY like to thank my anonymous reviewers. Your reviews are just as awesome as the others. I truly appreciate it. I hope you liked the chapter and please review! _

_J.S. Goldberg_


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

I giggled. I hadn't giggled much in the past couple of days but I giggled. Why was I giggling? Well, there was something touching my sides and that's where I am most ticklish. It soon occurred to me that I was waking up from a dream. I heard the distant, "Casey" above me and the more I awoke the louder my giggles got. It was kind of like going under water and coming back up. Everything is in a rush; which might explain why when I woke up my reflexes went into hyper action and kicked whoever was tickling me.

There was a loud thump and I sprang up in the bed. I looked all around and despite the familiarity of the room, it was not my own. Everything was coming back to me and I suddenly realized who I just kicked. I looked over the side of the bed and giggled some more when I saw Derek on the floor holding his shin.

"This isn't funny," he said with a pout. His pout was so adorable I couldn't help but giggle harder. He rolled his eyes and stood up. "If I would have known I was going to get kicked by trying to wake you up I wouldn't have bothered."

"Why _did_ you try to wake me up?" I asked as the giggles started to subside. He sighed.

"Because of your mom. She sent me back up here to come and wake you because you fell back asleep," he explained with an exasperated sigh.

"If it was such a burden why did you bother?" I asked as I got out of his bed. This was awkward enough. I suddenly took Derek's full presence. He was shirtless and had his pajama pants on. I could see every muscle on his chest. He wasn't built but he wasn't lanky either. He was very nice to stare at. My eyes snapped up to his. "You didn't sleep in that did you?"

"What do you mean?" he asked glancing down in confusion. "You mean shirtless? No. Why? Does that _bother_ you?" He smirked at me and I narrowed my eyes.

"No," I said sternly. Just then the door swung wide open and I jumped in shock.

"How is the happy couple doing this morning?" Edwin asked with a grin. I ground my teeth together and placed my hands on my hips.

"GO AWAY EDWIN!" Derek and I shouted at the same time. He quickly shut the door and the room became very silent. I sighed and grabbed an outfit before heading to the bathroom to change. This was the start of a very long day.

XOX

"What are you doing next Friday night, Case?"

I stared at Emily with a blank expression before opening my locker. I grabbed a book and switched it with another before shutting my locker and turning back to Emily.

"It's nice to see you this morning too," I said with a small smile. She laughed and rolled her eyes.

"Yes, the morning rituals. I'm good and there's nothing much new with you. Anyway, are you free next Friday?" I sighed and shrugged. She rolled her eyes again at my responsiveness or lack of. She drew in a breath before squealing, "Alex is throwing a party this weekend and we HAVE to go!"

"Who's Alex? And why do we HAVE to go to this party?" I asked with a small laugh.

"You know the guy in Chemistry? He's in this off again on again thing with this girl Sarah," she explained quickly. I paused for a moment, soaking in all the new information.

"Oh right. The un-official couple. So why do we have to go again? We don't even know him," I inquired.

"Well it started off as just a small gathering but then when people heard about it, it turned into like the biggest party EVER! And we have to go to let the world know you're single again!"

I froze. How could I possibly tell Emily I was married to Derek? I mean, he was my stepbrother. I know it's not completely wrong but most people would find marrying your stepsibling gross. Me especially since its DEREK! I mentally slapped myself and offered a weak smile.

"Casey. You _are_ single right?"

"Depends on your definition of single," I said with a chuckle. I took a chance at glancing over at Emily and I cringed. She was gaping at me.

"CASEY! Why didn't you tell me you were dating someone?! Who's the lucky guy?" she squealed. I drew in a deep breath.

"Derek."

"There's another Derek at our school? Why didn't I know this?"

"…"

"…DEREK VENTURI AS IN YOUR STEPBROTHER?!" she suddenly shouted. I clamped my hand over her mouth and brought her to a corner.

"Will you keep it down?! Yes, my stepbrother. But it's not how it sounds," I whispered frantically. She placed her hands on her hips. Oh boy. This was going to be hard to explain.

"Really? Cause it sounds like you're dating your stepbrother."

"Well, I wouldn't say dating exactly," I laughed.

"…"

"We're actually, sorta, kinda, well, basically-"

"SPIT IT OUT ALREADY!"

"WE'RE MARRIED! OK?! DEREK VENTURI AND CA- ohh, that's really loud isn't it?" Emily nodded. "Well, it's not like we love each other or anything," I added while giggling. "I'll explain…"

XOX

I stomped into the cafeteria in pursuit of Derek. It felt weird. Normally I'd do everything in my power to steer clear of him but right now we needed to talk. I ran my fingers through my hair in frustration until I finally spotted him, Sam, and Ralph. I grinned and sat at their table like it was an everyday occurrence.

"What are you doing here?" was Derek's kind welcome.

"Well, I am thrilled to see you too, Derek!" I said sarcastically. He rolled his eyes and repeated his question. Sam and Ralph grinned at the two of us.

"Man, you guys really are like a married couple," Ralph chuckled. My mouth dropped and I snapped my head to Derek in complete shock. HOW COULD HE?!

"HOW COULD YOU TELL RALPH?!" I shouted. Derek glared at me.

"I DIDN'T TELL HIM!"

"Did _Emily_ tell you?" I asked Ralph.

"YOU TOLD EMILY?!" Derek shouted. I giggled and flipped my hair nonchalantly. He growled under his breath before taking a forceful bite out of his burrito. The table was filled with an awkward silence while I tried to figure out what to say. I was a horrible liar, so there was no way I could deny telling her. Besides, she could keep a secret. I hoped. Her reaction wasn't one that I expected. I was waiting for her to be grossed out and to refuse to be near me. But she actually found it amusing. Lovely.

"Not exactly. She kind of guessed it…with proper guidance…from- OK! I told her. Gosh! Don't have a cow," I whined. Derek sighed while he shook his head and bit into his burrito with frustration. I looked over at Sam and Ralph to find them dumbstruck.

"Do you have any idea what they're talking about?" Sam asked. Ralph shrugged.

"I never have an idea. I'm going to the nurse. My head is spinning," he said holding his head. Sam got up with Ralph and they walked out of the cafeteria which left Derek and I alone. I fidgeted in my seat, suddenly unsure of myself. When others were around, I knew exactly how to act around him. When we were alone…it was like I was thrown into some alternate universe. I put my hands on the table and then took them away. I probably repeated this cycle a billion times before Derek spoke.

"So, what did you need to talk about? It must be important for you to actually be quiet for once," he laughed. I rolled my eyes.

"We need to act lovey dovey-"

"Whoa whoa! Derek Venturi doesn't do _lovey dovey_. Especially with my stepsister," he said with a shudder.

"Need I remind you, sweetie? We're also _married_. So, I came up with a list of things to do when around my mom and George. Number one, use terms of endearments. For example: sweetie, honey, sugar, dear-"

"Ew! What about _baby_ or _sex muffin_ or something?" I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Baby is degrading and sex muffin? Are you kidding me?"

"Relax freakenstein, I was making a joke."

"Oh. Anyways, number 2 is that we have to hold hands, sit next to each other, cuddle, and act calm and nice to each other," I finished with a grin. He laughed. "What?"

"Is that how you think marriage works?"

"No. But it's enough to fool Nora and George."

XOX

Maybe I was wrong.

Currently, Derek and I were cuddling in his chair while Lizzie and Edwin were on the couch. The chair was only really for one person so I had to sit on his lap. Yeah, I wasn't too pleased about that. My arms were draped around his neck and his were wrapped around my waist. My mom and George came back into the room with snacks and then started the movie. I put my head up against Derek's and pretended to get into the movie when all I could think about was our close proximity.

"If we get any closer, this might just turn R rated," he whispered in my ear. I sneered and discreetly smacked him. I glanced at Nora and George to see they were looking over at us with smirks before turning back to the movie. My eyes drifted to Lizzie and Edwin who continued to gawk at us. Frustrated, I got off of Derek and stomped upstairs.

I slammed the door behind me only for it to be opened again. I spun around and placed my hands on my hips.

"Well that went well," Derek chuckled. Ugh! I was so sick of his attitude. I was so sick of his sarcasm. And I was so sick of him! I wish I never agreed to marry him in the first place. What on earth was wrong with me? Wait...don't answer that.

"I thought that would work!" I shouted before I rubbed my temples. Derek laughed.

"Seriously? That was such a dumb plan."

"Well, do you have a better idea, Einstein?"

A smirk graced his lips and he crossed his arms. "In fact, I do."

* * *

A/N: _HI GUYS! I know...it's been way too long since my last update. Let's just say my life has been hectic lately. Anyways, I hoped you liked this. I'm a little unsure about it but hopefully I did an ok job. I am so shocked/thrilled/amazed that I have 151 reviews on this story! THANK YOU SO MUCH! The reviews are mucho appreciated. And I'll try my best to make the next update quicker. :D_


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

This time I didn't need Derek to wake me up. As soon as my alarm clock went off I forced myself awake and jumped out of bed. Derek was still sleeping. I sighed and ran to the bathroom to take a quick shower. I wrapped a towel around me when I realized my shoes were in Derek's room. I groaned. If I went in there now there'd be a good chance he was still asleep. If I waited until after I got dressed I might run into him before school. Yuck.

I decided option one would be best. The lights were still off. A good sign. I sighed with relief and walked to the corner to grab my heels. When I stood back up and turned around, Derek was doing the same from the closet. We stood there for a minute before taking in the appearance of the other. I was only in my dark blue towel while he was in blue boxers. We both let out a gigantic scream- kind of like the one when we found out my mom and George were coming home early from their road trip over March break. We then looked down at ourselves and then screamed again.

I ran out of the room as quickly as I could and I leaned against his closed door. That was such an awkward experience. I shook my head to rid the thoughts of half naked Derek. I smirked to myself as I remembered the sight I saw. He _was_ pretty good to look at. I mean NO! No, Derek ISN'T good to look at. I shook my head frantically before running to my room to change.

I twirled around in my outfit in the mirror which consisted of a black, pleated skirt that was mid-thigh, and a dark blue shirt. I curled my hair and put on some light make up. And as the finishing touches I put on my heels. I looked pretty good. Too bad I would look good for no one- aside from Derek I suppose. It's not like I could go on a date with a guy anymore. I was _married_. To _Derek Venturi_. Ugh. Speaking of the devil…

"You look all dolled up. What's the occasion?"

"What's it matter to you, dimwit?" I muttered making my way past him. Derek feigned hurt.

"Ouch."

"Your ego is big enough," I said with a smirk as I grabbed my bag. He laughed. "Anyway, you ready for school?"

"Who is ever ready? You ready for stage one in my master plan?"

I sighed. "Yea. Why can't you tell me the rest of your plan?" I pouted. Maybe he'll think my pout is cute as well and will give in.

"Nope. It'll ruin my fun," he smirked. Wrong again.

"Of course it will. Come on, honeybunch," I replied grabbing his arm and pulling him down the stairs. I announced our leaving to the family and continued to exit the house.

XOX

We sat in an awkward silence. He sat back in his chair looking at me expectantly. I chewed on my bottom lip. He coughed but I continued to just sit there. I had a lot on my mind…you try sorting out _my_ brain and then we'll have a talk, ok? I had a question; I just didn't quite know how to word it. But I _am_ here. So that's a start. This was step one of Derek's master plan. I was supposed to talk to him and see if I could get any good information as to pretending to be a happy, married couple. Of course he only mentioned step one to me yesterday. Apparently, there are other steps. Ugh.

"Casey, is there a reason you needed to see me today?" Paul asked with a chuckle.

"You're married, right?" I asked out of nowhere. Random. I know. He paused for a moment.

"Well yes but I don't see what that has to do with-"

"And it's a good marriage?" I interrupted. I felt bad for being rude but I didn't have time to sit there and chit chat about nonsense. Because the sooner I learned about this marriage stuff, the sooner we could fool mom and George, and the sooner we fool them the quicker we can get an annulment.

"Yes, it is," he answered with a confused tone.

"Can I observe you two?" I murmured. He leaned forward.

"What?" Oh. Good. He didn't hear me. It's not like I meant to be heard. So it was relieving to know he didn't.

"What makes it a good marriage?" I asked instead. The whole observing thing was just a little too creepy. Even I knew that.

"Well it's different for each marriage. But a successful one usually involves trust and communication," he explained. I nodded my head while biting my lower lip again.

"Mhhm mhhm. I see where you're going with this. Now…is there any way to fake a good marriage?" I inquired. He laughed and I stared at him quizzically. What was so funny? I pouted.

"Casey, does this have to with you and Derek?" I gasped immediately.

"Who told?! Was it Emily?!" I shouted. I then stood up completely. "Was it Ralph?!" He laughed harder and I was ready to growl at him.

"No. Your mother told me all about it. She called to give me a heads up and I think I might be able to help you," he said with a mischievous grin. Oh no.

XOX

"MARRIAGE COUNSELING?!"

"Yeah. It might be good for us. Apparently Paul is pretty good with married couples," I said while glancing down at his counseling schedule. Derek pulled me to a corner and ran his fingers through his hair in frustration.

"Ok first off, this _wasn't_ part of my plan. And second, I don't know if you've noticed but…WE'RE NOT REALLY A COUPLE!" I placed my hands on my hips.

"No. But we _are_ married no thanks to you," I whispered angrily. He scoffed.

"It's a two way street, honey," he responded. Ouch. He was right. It was just as much my fault as it was his. And I was the one who blabbed it all in the first place. Ugh. I hated when he had a point. It probably didn't help that he was blamed for everything that went wrong in our house. Though in all fairness, he was usually the cause of it anyway.

"I know," I said with an exasperated sigh. "Look, fighting is going to get us nowhere. And going to this marriage counseling might show my mom and your dad that we're working on our marriage." He nodded and tapped his chin. I clapped my hands excitedly. I'm getting through to him finally! It's like a dream come true.

"You're right," he stated with finality in his voice. He started to walk away but I held him back by grabbing his arm.

"Wait! What's step two in your plan?"

He smirked. Oh boy. I wasn't going to like this. "You'll find out tonight." He then winked before walking away. Oh lord, help me now.

"Casey, why are you just standing here…in the corner under the stairs?" Emily asked with a befuddled expression. I offered her a weak smile.

"I was with Derek," I replied as I stuffed the marriage counseling schedule in my backpack. When I glanced up, she was smirking at me. "What?"

"Oh nothing…just you and Derek _alone_, you say?" she responded while waggling her eyebrows. I rolled my eyes. Derek's mysteriousness, and Paul's smugness was enough to drive me insane. Now I have Emily implying things…just fabulous.

"Let me rephrase my answer: I was _talking_ with Derek. Like we'd even kiss," I said with a shudder. Well, that's kind of a lie. We did, in fact, kiss on our wedding. It was sorta inevitable though. That's how you seal the deal. And yes, it was a little weird kissing him but…it felt right. Though that feeling could just be a factor that Derek was a good kisser. Boy oh boy was he good.

Debbie was right last year. AH! No! Stop thinking about that.

"Well, you could. You guys _are_ married," she laughed. I frantically covered her mouth.

"Sssh! Someone might hear you," I whispered and she rolled her eyes.

"Like anyone will know we're talking about you-know-who. Besides, you think anyone really cares to listen to our conversations?"

"Hmm. You make a good point," I admitted, letting out a sigh of relief. We laughed as we walked to the cafeteria together.

XOX

"It's official. You have lost your mind."

Derek let out a grunt of protest. I closed my eyes and shook my head. I could not believe his pigheadedness! No matter how hard I tried I just couldn't get that new image out of my head. Ugh! I thought we were supposed to control our thoughts. I shifted uncomfortably in my pajama pants and tank top.

"Come on, Casey. You have to admit…it _is_ a good plan," he replied while smiling from ear to ear. I groaned and hid my hands in my face before pulling away and pointing a finger at him.

"I'm not admitting anything!" He laughed at me. "What?!"

"You're entertaining when mad, that's all." I scoffed and crossed my arms while looking away from him.

"Whatever." I turned back to him. "I'm not doing it!"

"You know it's brilliant!"

"I will say that it is quite shocking for your small mind to come up with something as elaborate and genius as this but may I add that it is so totally and completely wrong!" I shouted in my whisper voice. He shook his head and laughed harder.

"Casey, it's not like we'll be doing the real thing."

"It's the principle of the matter. Besides, you think they'd actually buy it?" I pondered. He shrugged nonchalantly.

"Hey, we're married, aren't we? I'm sure nothing else could surprise them," he laughed. I rolled my eyes. He made a compelling argument. Damn him! I sighed. I can't believe I was going to do this but-

"Ugh. Fine."

He did a little "yes!" before stripping off his T-shirt and pajama pants. My eyes widened immensely.

"W-what are you doing?" I stuttered while my eyes roamed his entire body. I shifted again. Why did my stepbrother/husband have to be so damn hot?!

"Well, if we're gonna make them think we're having sex so we can have our rooms back we should strip some articles of clothing off. If we're fully clothed there's a good chance we'll only get a warning…or they won't believe us," he explained. I could only mutter an "oh". "So take off your shirt and pants." My eyes snapped up to his.

"_What_?!"

"We both have to be half-naked, Casey. Or else it won't be good enough. If you don't I'll just take them off for y-"

"NO! I'll take them off myself," I replied in an aggravated tone. I huffed as I stripped off my tank top and pajama pants before throwing them to where Derek's clothes were. We silently climbed into his bed but he stopped me before I could lie down.

"Bottom or top?" My jaw dropped. I couldn't believe my ears. I then narrowed my eyes at him.

"Bottom. So that way if this gets out, I can claim rape," I said before lying down beneath Derek. I drew in a deep breath. "S-so what exactly do we do?" He paused while he thought about the answer.

"Um, well you can start moaning and I'll make…thrusting motions to make the bed…creak," he said shyly while refusing to look me in the eye. Since when has Derek been shy about anything sexual related? Can't blame him though…this was new to both of us. I winced as I let out my first moan. Ugh. I was horrible at this.

"Derek…this isn't working."

"You're right. It's too forced. We have to get into the moment," he said while blowing a strand of hair out of his eyes. Both of our eyes locked and we silently made an agreement. This would mean nothing. Suddenly, Derek's lips crashed onto mine. At first the kiss was slow and sensual but soon it became passionate and desperate. Derek separated my lips with his tongue and soon our tongues were tangled in our hot, passionate kiss. I continued to explore his mouth but it was brought to an end when his lips moved from my mouth to my neck.

His lips traced down my body and it felt so good I had to let out a soft moan. And it wasn't even forced! Oh. My. Gosh. I ran my fingers through his hair and I involuntarily pressed my body against his. His skin felt so nice against mine. His hands began to explore me while his lips met mine again. But he wasn't the only one exploring. My hands ran down his chest and I grinned against his lips. After the first moan or two I started losing track…of mine and his.

He pulled away and sat up and I followed. I watched his hands' movements as they slowly made their way to behind my back. I closed my eyes. He was going to unhook my bra! But right before he could someone opened the door and turned on the lights. My eyes immediately opened and I gasped before pulling the sheets to cover myself.

"Mom! G-George! Hi," I stammered. It was difficult to wrap my brain around anything after what just happened. They both stood there glaring at us.

"What the hell is going in here?!" George bellowed. I winced and Derek scratched the back of his head.

"Well…things got a little out of hand," Derek answered. Technically he spoke the truth. Things _did_ get out of hand. My mom rubbed her temples.

"Casey, I had more faith in you," she said in her disappointed voice. I sighed and glanced between Derek and my mom.

"I guess that's what happens when you stick two hormonal teenagers of the opposite sex in the same room…and bed," I whispered. It was hard to find my voice. My mom glared at George.

"No kidding." She smacked George on the arm. "I told you this was a bad idea!"

"Well, _excuse me_. How was I supposed to know we'd find them doing the dirty? It was the last thing I expected from the two of them," he explained.

"If it helps…we didn't expect this either," Derek said before looking at me and giving me a wink. George narrowed his eyes.

"Derek, if you were smart, you'd keep your mouth shut right now," George said while I waited for steam to come out of his ears. My mom decided to take over.

"Look, Casey. I think it'd be best if you went back to your room and stayed there. Obviously the sleeping arrangements aren't working out. So, we'll leave the room while you two get dressed..."

I nodded my head while they shut the door behind them. I glanced at Derek and I opened my mouth to speak but he cut me off.

"Remember: it meant nothing."

I nodded my head again and got dressed as quickly as I could. After I had a talk with my mom in the hallway, I lied down on my own bed. It was nice to have some time to myself to think over recent events. We both agreed for it to mean nothing. So why did it feel like so much more than that? And why was I wondering if Derek felt the same?

* * *

A/N: _HEY EVERYONE! I updated again! Eeeepers! I have been a writing machine. I wrote some more last night and a lot in first period. As a math T.A. I have a lot of spare time. I've done one thing in the past week or so. LOL. I don't mind though. Anyways, you found out about steps one and two of Derek's master plan. Tehe. Step two gave me a good laugh. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! _

_P.S. To those who have recently reviewed and I haven't replied yet: THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR REVIEWS! Each one means a lot to me. XD_


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

I slowly chewed on my cereal the next morning while sitting on a stool behind the island. Derek was beside me munching on his own brand. It was an awkward silence. I shifted in my seat which emitted a creak from the stool. I glanced up to find Lizzie and Edwin staring at us with weird expressions. Derek pretended not to notice and finished eating his cereal and started to leave the room.

"Um, Derek, honey," I started. He turned around and raised his eyebrows expectantly. "Why don't you put your bowl in the sink?"

"Wow. Wonderful idea. Except I'm running a bit late. You mind, cupcake?" he asked with an endearing smile; a fake one at that. What a crock of crap. I mentally groaned but knew that Lizzie and Edwin were mom and George's spies. I mean, who else had access to our lives besides Marti. But it was best not to involve her. Especially after the previous night. I put on my best smile and shook my head. His grin widened and he kissed my forehead quickly. "Thanks, babe." With that, he ran out the door. When I looked back at the younger children they were smirking at me.

"What?" I asked heatedly. I was so sick of them staring and gawking at me like I was some sort of giraffe in the gosh darn zoo.

"We heard you two...made some whoopee," Edwin replied while waggling his eyebrows up and down. My mouth dropped to the floor.

"W-what?! Who told?! And we did _NOT_ make whoopee. We were only making out…half naked, but that is beside the point!" I rambled. Wow. I had a really bad habit of doing that. I should learn how to stop.

"No one had to tell us," Lizzie responded while placing her bowl in the sink. "First we heard the moans, and then we heard Nora and George freaking out on the way back downstairs. Next time…don't be so obvious." Lizzie and Edwin left the room without another word which left me there to reflect last night's events. I shuddered at the thought and continued eating.

XOX

It was English class and thankfully I sat next to Emily. I hadn't had a chance to tell her the delightful news. Can't you just decipher the sarcasm oozing out of my voice? I peeked upwards to see if our teacher was looking at me. He was droning on about possibilities of what to do for our semester project. We had to create some sort of creative writing assignment. We could do anything we want: compilation of poetry, drabbles, short story, a novel…as long as it was school appropriate. I still had no clue what to write so I felt no need to pay much attention. No lecture could spark anything in my mind. When the moment presented itself I passed the note to Emily.

**'Oh my gosh. My mom totally caught us making out last night!'**

I watched as the shock slowly set in on her face. She furiously scribbled onto the paper and if I didn't know any better it would seem as if she was truly and deeply involved in the lesson for the day. But I did know better.

_'Who is us?'_

I rolled my eyes. Could she really be that dense? I let out a deep sigh as I responded.

**'Who but HIM could I be referring to? Ya know: brown haired, brown eyes, totally adorable when he wants to be, sexy smirk. Ring any bells?'**

Emily giggled softly and turned back to me and nodded her head vigorously. I smiled back.

_'So what happened? Are you guys in love or something now?'_

I was writing my reply when I felt all eyes on me. My head gradually lifted itself until it was face to face with our English teacher. I gulped involuntarily and closed my eyes in complete dread. Oh dear lord.

"Miss McDonald, passing notes in my class, are we?" he asked with a rhetorical question. I didn't answer. _Just keep your mouth shut and everything will be fine._ I mean, my trap has always turned out to be a pain before. I should kick this rambling thing in the bud. Starting…NOW! "Well, let's just share this with the class."

NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!

I looked over my shoulder to see Derek sitting back in his chair leisurely with a mixture of smugness and curiosity etched across his face.

"I don't think that'd be the brightest idea, sir," I responded feebly. He smirked and put his hands on his hips. Crap. I just gave him ammunition.

"Is that so? Well, I think it's a wonderful idea. It might enlighten you and the rest of the students to pay attention." I gulped again as he grabbed the note from my desk. I cringed and placed my palm on my forehead. My heart was pounding rapidly in my chest and I felt as if I couldn't breathe. Though my classmates would have no idea who I was referring to…Derek would know.

"_Oh my gosh. My mom totally caught us making out last night!_" he started, mocking my girlish voice. My fists clenched. He continued. "_Who is us? Who but HIM could I be referring to?_" Here it came. After this I would be a dead woman. No longer could I show my face in front of him, which would be difficult. We were only _married_ and _living together_ for heaven's sake! Our teacher opened his mouth to continue but the bell cut him off. My face filling with relief, I snatched the paper out of his hand and ran out of the room as fast as I could.

I was saved by the bell. How cliché?

I was walking towards Paul's office when someone tugged on my elbow. I spun around on my heel to see it was Derek. I stared at him expectantly and he smirked.

"So you were talking about me with Emily, eh?" he said with a chuckle. My mouth dropped and I gasped. In a split second, I was composed again.

"Bite me," I replied kindly before walking again. He followed me down the hallway and made sure to stand in front of me so I stopped. He gently and discreetly pushed me against the wall. "What do you want, Derek?"

"Look, that was a close call," he said seriously. His hot breath was on my lips and nose. It sent shivers down my spine. "If _anyone_ and I mean _anyone_ here aside from the people we have already told find out about us because of some brainless stunt like that, I will make your life more miserable than it already is."

"Doubt it. I mean to do that, it would require enormous brain power on your part which is hard to do with that tiny little engine of pink, mushy gunk flopping around in your head," I responded. While he processed what I said I made an escape. Ah, the old 'say-something-really-weird-and-confusing-and-then-run-away-while-they-think' bit. Classic and will work on any dumb dumb. I recommend it.

I sped into Paul's office and shut the door quickly. Paul flinched and then recomposed himself. He gestured for me to sit down and I complied while looking around the room paranoid.

"Casey, are you alright?"

"Me? Oh I am totally fine…well, besides almost getting humiliated in front of my entire English class. Then again, when am I _not_ being a fool?" I ranted. Yeah…about that rambling…still a work in progress. "Not to mention the fact that Derek and I were caught making out in his bed by my mom and George," I added. My head snapped to his and my eyes widened immensely. "Oh no. Don't let Derek know I told you that."

"Um, wow. You've had quite the night and day," he said with a light chuckle. I shrugged and fidgeted in my seat.

"It's not like it meant anything."

"It didn't?" he inquired.

"Yeah. The plan was to be able to sleep in our own bedrooms and it was the only way we could think of to make them separate us," I replied in a defensive manner.

"Why didn't you just try talking to them? I'm sure they would have understood. Or sneak into your room in the middle of the night?" I stayed silent. He had a point.

"I don't know. But it didn't mean anything! Well, I did feel something but that's normal right? For heaven's sake we're two teenagers, one of which is an amazing kisser and that is not me, if ya catch my drift," I giggled. Paul watched me with a smug grin formed across his face. "Why don't you believe me?!" I stood up and placed my hands on his desk while looking intently into his eyes. "IT MEANT NOTHING! I DON'T EVEN CARE WE WERE TOTALLY HALF NAKED AND MAKING OUT IN HIS BED WITH HIS MAGICAL TONGUE DOWN MY THROAT!"

His eyes widened.

"Ok."

XOX

"Emily, can a tongue be magical?"

Emily and I were currently eating lunch in the cafeteria when I spouted the random question on her. It wasn't too long after my little outburst in Paul's office. I felt so embarrassed that I rushed out of the room right after scheduling Derek and I's first marriage counseling session. Step One in Paul's marriage classes were one on one with Paul. Step Two was group sessions. Do you know how sick I am of steps and plans? Look where it has gotten me now.

"What?" she asked with food still in her mouth. I shrugged.

"Can a tongue be magical?"

"Well, not like I've ever experienced one personally but I suppose it could be. Why?"

I felt my cheeks burn up. "Um, I'm writing a story and wanted to know if I could use that adjective to describe…a tongue."

"And what would this story be? 'How I Accidentally Got Married To My Stepbrother' perhaps?" My mouth dropped and I threw a piece of my sandwich at her.

"_Emily_! Will you shut up?"

"Sorry," she giggled throwing it back. "But actually, that sounds pretty interesting. I'd read it." My face lit up and she stared at me quizzically. "Are you ok?"

"EMILY! You are a genius!" I shouted. She grinned.

"I know. Why this time?"

"I know exactly what to write about for our semester project in English," I replied. Her face fell.

"Casey, I don't think that's such a hot idea."

"Why not? I could make it fiction and no one would really know it happened. It's like this was fate. I mean, my life right now is so complicated you just can't make this sort of thing up off the top of your head," I responded. She pondered what I said before agreeing with a small shrug.

"True. But maybe you should talk to your husband first." She was right.

"No, he'd never let me do it and this is a great idea! He'll only restrict my creativity! He'll be the roadblock on my road to destiny! This was meant to be documented," I replied firmly. Too bad I didn't want to listen. She laughed and shrugged.

"Apparently you have a death wish. Or a humiliation wish."

With a 'hmph' I walked out of the cafeteria. I'd show them.

* * *

A/N: Hello my wonderful and forgiving readers. Hehe. I feel really bad about taking a long time to update. I'm too lazy to go into excuses as to why I haven't updated in a while. Anyways, I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. I know chapter 5 is a tough act to follow but I did my best. Hehe. Stay tuned fooooooor Derek and Casey's first marriage counseling session in chapter 7. Hopefully I can get that out soon.

ALSO! In case I forgot to reply to some people's reviews: THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! This story has picked up SO many reviews and I am just posting chapter 6. This is insane! I feel truly honored. So thank you guys so much!

**JustMelody321(on youtube)- **I know I already replied on youtube but thanks again for the message. :)

**keiraobsessed(DisforDasey too now?)- **I am doing my best to think up more awesometastic pet names. I should try to come up with 100 of them! That'd be amazing. Hahaha.


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

When walking out of a room with your head held high you might be prone to accidents. I was already the target to many collisions but this only proceeded to help those moments along quicker. I walked into something and started to fall backwards. Oh no! I closed my eyes waiting for the impact but it never came. I slowly cracked open an eyelid to see a boy was holding me up. I stepped away from him and smiled weakly before brushing off the imaginary dirt on my clothes.

"Um, thanks," I muttered. His green eyes sparkled majestically at me while his perfect, white teeth shined beautifully in my direction. I think I just swooned. Hopefully he didn't notice.

"No problem. I always love to help a beautiful damsel in distress," he said with the most adorable British accent. It wasn't heavy but just noticeable to make him even more drop dead sexy. He was standing with great posture while wearing a pair of dark blue jeans, an ivy green shirt with a brown jacket over it. His shaggy brown hair was in a perfect mess. My heart was thumping.

"So I see chivalry still exists where you're from," I replied with a flirtatious tone to my voice. He shrugged his shoulder.

"Nah. I'm just special," he said with a chuckle. I giggled and flipped my hair. I was about to speak when a voice cut me off.

"Hey, Case. Want to introduce me to your friend?" I mentally groaned. Of all the moments for Derek to butt in…he has to do it now! I swallowed my throat and turned to Derek with a small smile.

"Sure. This is umm…"

"I'm Derex, a new exchange student, mate," he responded while holding out his hand. Derek looked at him as if he were a threat.

"Derex, forgive my _stepbrother_. He's a bit anti-social," I spoke to undo the damage he was creating. Just then the hockey team passed by and shouted Derek's name. Some gave him a high five before walking away. A blonde girl strutted by us and winked at him while saying his name with an alluring and seductive voice. Derex raised his eyebrows at me with a smirk. "Ok, maybe anti-social was the wrong word choice. Derek can be really rude."

"Aw, muffin buns. That means so much coming from you," he responded while wrapping his arm around my shoulders. What was he trying to do? Claim his territory.

"Well, Case, it was a pleasure to meet you," Derex said feeling a bit uncomfortable. I giggled slightly before averting my eyes.

"It was great to meet you too. By the way, my name is Casey. Derek just likes to call me Case since he has trouble pronouncing full words at times." Derex gave a full hearted laugh while Derek merely glared at me. Derex continued to laugh as he walked past us and into the cafeteria. I looked towards Derek and decided this would be a good time to run for it. Too bad Derek knew me too well. He stepped in front of me and held my shoulders.

"What on earth is wrong with you?!"

"Me?! What the hell was that? Muffin buns?" I spat.

"Well, at least I _try_ and make this marriage work! While you go off and take the first opportunity to cheat on me with some guy you hardly know!" My mouth practically fell off my face at that point.

"FYI, sugar cakes, we're not _actually_ married," I responded while getting up in his face. We were so close my nose practically touched his lips. Yeah, I was a bit on the short side. Sue me.

"Oh really? Not according to the law!" he replied while forcefully shoving his left hand in my face so I could see his wedding band. I was speechless.

"You're wearing your wedding band to school?" I asked, completely stunned. He suddenly stiffened and took a step back. He coughed awkwardly and shifted on his feet.

"Yeah." After he regained his composure he spoke again. "Look, I'm sorry I overreacted but we can't really date. What are we going to tell Nora and George when we go out one at a time?"

"Derex is so cute though," I responded with a dreamy sigh. "And I'm pretty sure he's into me! We can figure something out right? You're the master of plans." He smirked towards me and crossed his arms over his chest in a cocky manner.

"Well, I _have_ created the most brilliant plans known to man." Ah, there was the good old Derek.

XOX

Dinner lately had been awfully quiet. I suppose the recent news of our marriage had created an air of awkwardness around the house. Mom and George ate their food in silence, Edwin and Lizzie would look at us if they weren't exchanging glances with each other, Marti remained clueless and in her own bubble, while Derek and I either stared at our plates or each other.

"So, mom…" I started. She looked up at me expectantly. Ever since the trip our relationship had been slightly distant. Though, I couldn't blame her. "I talked to Paul today and set up a date for the marriage counseling."

"That's very good, Casey. I'm glad to see you two putting in an effort," she said with a small smile. I grinned back and continued to eat.

"Maybe it'll help with all the sexual tension," Edwin muttered under his breath. All of our heads snapped towards him.

"Are you looking for a death wish, Ed?" Derek responded heatedly.

"What we do with our alone time is no business to you. We're married so hush," I replied just as heated. I stabbed my chicken with my fork while the rest of the table stared at me in awe. I was a little appalled at myself as well. I wouldn't usually defend us in this sort of thing. So it was a little out of the ordinary. Quiet again.

"Daddy, what's sexual tension?" Marti asked curiously. Derek snorted and I stifled a giggle myself. We exchanged a glance and grinned at each other.

"Ask me again in thirty years, pumpkin," George replied.

XOX

"We need to talk."

I turned around and gaped at Derek. I was currently putting on a tank top over my head while in my pajama pants. Couldn't he see I was changing? How on earth could he be so nonchalant?

"There's this thing called knocking. Why don't you try it?" I countered sarcastically. "And I'm _changing over here_."

"Case, we've been half naked with each other. Plus we're married. I don't think anyone will mind," he laughed. I rolled my eyes.

"Maybe _I_ care." He crossed his arms over his chest again and smirked. "Ok, I don't but do you have to be so smug about it?" I retorted while finishing getting dressed.

"Of course. And put on a jacket…we're taking a walk."

XOX

"So why are we out here?" I asked as I shivered under my jacket. We were taking a nice stroll in the local park. Derek rolled his eyes and brought me under his arms to help keep me warm.

"We needed to talk and we can't do that with tweetle dumb and tweetle smart listening in to our conversation," he replied. I nodded my head for him to continue. "I thought of a way for us to date."

"Do tell!" I shouted enthusiastically. He sighed and then grinned as he spoke his plan.

"We'll tell Nora and George we're going out to spend some quality time together. We'll meet our dates at the restaurant. We'll have to double date in case they show up where we are. So that way it'll look like we're going on a group outing and they won't find out we were lying."

"Brilliant!" I bellowed before hugging him and giving him a smooch on the cheek. He stuttered and his cheeks filled with a crimson color. Did I just make Derek Venturi blush? I took some small pride in this. "Sorry. I just…well…um…Derex seems like a great guy and I don't want to pass up an opportunity for someone who might turn out to be someone special. You know?"

"Yeah. I get it. He's probably the last guy in the universe to be interested in you. I totally understand your desperation," he said with a smirk. My mouth fell open and I smacked his chest.

"Jerk."

"You know you love me, pookey poo," he responded while pinching my cheeks. I slapped his hands away while giggling.

"Pookey poo? Where do you get these pet names?" I laughed. He beamed at me.

"I have my sources."

"Oh, is that so?" He feigned anger and then picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. I smacked his back but he refused to let me go. "DER-EK!"

"Hey, you guys," I heard Emily say. Derek stopped suddenly but kept me on his shoulder.

"Hey, Emily. Casey and I were just taking a nice stroll while discussing our scheme to escape this trap called marriage." I heard Emily giggle.

"I can see that. I was just walking the dog. Anyways, I'll see the happy couple tomorrow. Bye guys."

"Bye Em!" I shouted. She sent a wave my way and I reciprocated before Derek dragged me in the opposite direction.

XOX

Derek and I slowly crept into Paul's office. He wasn't present yet and we both took a seat in the two chairs in front of his desk. Usually it was one but he was prepared for us. Creepy. It was the day of our first marriage counseling session and we were totally ready. Our plan was simple: act like we were a perfect couple. Surely he would give the results of these sessions to our parents and if he told them we were acting like the perfect couple then we would be out of this jam faster than you could say "I do".

I tapped my foot lightly and fixed my hair. I stole a quick look at Derek and he seemed as calm as a cucumber. Astonishing. Paul decided now was a good time to enter his office and he smiled at us.

"Hello, Casey. And Derek, a pleasure to see you again," he said as he took a seat in his chair. Derek grinned and nodded his head halfheartedly. "So how have things been for you two?"

"Well, Paul, things have actually been quite astounding. Wouldn't you say so, sweetie?" I answered kindly. Derek took my hand in his and ran his thumb gently over it. Paul surely took notice in this.

"Yes, cuddle muffin. Casey is very understanding of my needs. She never nags and is always there for me. The only problem really is that I think I might love her just too much," he said with a soft chuckle. I let out an 'aww' before leaning over to give him a brief, gentle kiss on the lips. It was merely a peck mind you. We stared back at Paul as he leaned back in his chair with a smirk.

"You both realize that I'm not just a regular guidance counselor right? I _do_ have degrees and went to college for this sort of thing. So, all of that didn't fool me. Look, if you want me to report to your parents that you're working on your marriage…you're going to have to actually do that."

Derek and I exchanged a defeated look. So much for that idea. Darn Paul and his intuition and college degrees.

"Since this is a marriage with special circumstances I am going to differ the normal way I do this therapy. I'm going to provide each of you a list. And neither of you are allowed to read the other person's list," he continued. He handed each of us an envelope and instructed us not to open them until we were alone. With that he announced our session to be over and that he'd see us next week.

Why did marriage have to be so complicated?

When we arrived home I went straight to my room to examine the list. The first item seemed easy enough:

_**Spend time with him doing the things he loves.**_

* * *

A/N: HIIIIIIII GUYS! OH MY GOSH! LOOK! LOOK! I updated ...the next day? Is it...? I can't remember days anymore. Hahaha. Anyways, I hope you like this chapter. :) By the way, Derex is a real name! I looked it up on babynames dot com. Cool, huh? There is a purpose to his name being Derex. Cause honestly...who would name their kid that? Not meeeee! :P Anyways, thanks so much for all the awesome reviews!

**nanamisakurachan- **I HOPE I SAVED YOUR SANITY!!!! Hahaha. :D Thankies for the review!

**loopyliz-** Awww thanks! Didn't know I was that good of a writer.

**Lady Azura- **Maybe you were blind? It's ok...I forgive you. Hehe. Thankies for the review though. :)

**DisforDasey (keiraobsessed)- **What didja think of my pet names this chapter? Haha. I'd have to say pookey poo is my current favorite...though, muffin buns might just take the cake. Hahahaha get it? Muffins...buns....cake..BAKERY FOOD! Sorry..I had some sugar.

Though this chappie was on the shorter side I hope you all enjoyed it! THANKS AGAIN! (in case it wasn't obvious I feel like doing shout outs now..they're fun)


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

I hugged my jacket even closer to my body as I entered the ice skating rink where our school's team practiced. It was hard to see who Derek was merely based off of looks. Good thing I knew his number. I sat right behind the goalie's area (behind the glass of course) and grinned. I wasn't much for sports but possibly it would grow on me. Not too much later two guys smashed into each other and the glass fighting for the puck. It scared the living daylights out of me and I let out a yelp. Immediately, someone blew a whistle and said to take a break. I realized it was the coach. Talk about a blonde moment.

"What are you doing here?" I heard a familiar voice ask. I looked up to see it was Derek on the other side of the glass. He had his helmet off and his face was dripping from what I hoped to be water and not sweat. I glanced down at his hand to find a half empty water bottle…good.

"I came to watch you practice, silly," I replied with a chipper voice. He stared at me weird.

"Why?"

"Can't a wife come to watch her husband play? Besides, it seems pretty interesting. I'm actually getting into it," I responded with honesty. It actually was quite interesting. I was enjoying myself.

"I bet you have no idea what's going on," he said with a smirk. My mouth dropped and then I crossed my arms over my chest while I turned my head away with a 'hmph' expression.

"I am insulted. Of course I know." He continued to smirk at me. I caved. "Ok, I don't! But I want to. It truly does grab my interest." He chuckled as he shook his head back and forth slightly.

"Stay after practice and I'll teach you," he said. I grinned and clapped my hands excitedly as he started to skate back to his team.

"Wait!" I shouted. He stopped and swiveled around and stared at me expectantly. "You're not going to teach me hockey like how you taught me football, right?" That seemed to give him a good laugh.

"No, Case. I'm going to actually teach you."

"Oh, ok!"

The practice went on for another half an hour and I would cheer for Derek whenever I saw him score which seemed to be a lot. He got smashed into the glass a few times and I cringed for him. That must really hurt. I recognized Sam once and I waved to him. He looked at me with confusion etched across his face and then he got smacked into the glass by some bonehead.

"HEY! MENROE! THAT'S A PENALTY! YOU DON'T SMASH HIM WHEN HE DOESN'T HAVE THE PUCK YOU IDIOT! AND SAM! PAY ATTENTION!" the coach screamed from the sidelines. Yeesh. Talk about strict.

The guys left to go shower and after ten minutes all the players emerged from the locker rooms. Sam walked up to me with a goofy grin on his face.

"Hi, Sam," I greeted kindly.

"Hey, Casey. Mind if I ask why you are here?"

"Oh, Derek was just going to show me the ropes," I replied grinning. He laughed.

"You? Play hockey?" he replied in between laughs. My smile faded into a frown. "No offense, Casey, but you aren't exactly hockey material." I placed my hands on my hips and started to give him a biting response but Derek showed up before I could say anything. He gave Sam one of those guy high fives and told him he'd see him tomorrow. Sam looked at me once before walking away while chuckling.

"Jerk," I muttered under my breath.

"I haven't even done anything wrong yet and you call me a jerk! Is it programmed in your head or something?" Derek whined. I laughed and shook my head.

"No. I was talking about Sam."

"Why is Sam a jerk?"

"He said I can't play hockey!" I complained. He snorted with laughter.

"Casey, you _can't_ play hockey," he pointed out. I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Yeah but he's insinuating that I will never be able to…just because I'm a girl or something," I replied glaring in the direction Sam walked away in. Derek shook his head and continued to laugh. "What?!"

"It's nice to see your feminist ways are still in that noggin of yours. For a while I thought that side of you was gone," he responded.

"Why would you think that?" Derek stared at me incredulously.

"Hello? Were you not present with your past trashy boyfriends? Max, Truman, and pretty soon Derex!"

I sighed. "Ok, so they weren't the brightest and hey! What's wrong with Derex?"

"Nothing…" he murmured. I shook my head as if to rid this negative conversation and beamed my pearly whites at him.

"So about that lesson…" That got a grin out of him.

"Grab some skates and meet me on the ice." My jaw dropped. I didn't know we'd actually be on the ice! I didn't dress for the occasion. "You _do_ know how to ice skate, right?"

"Of course I do…I'm just not dressed for it! Hmm…maybe there'll be someone's uniform in the girl's locker room," I mused. He shrugged. "I'll be right back."

I trotted off to the girl's locker room and glanced around to try and find girls my age. Sure enough there were three of them in the fourth isle. I ran towards them with a grin. They looked at me oddly and waited for me to state my importance to them.

"Hi, do either of you have a figure skating uniform? I kind of need to borrow it for a little bit. I didn't exactly come prepared to skate," I said pointing to my jeans. For some reason I couldn't skate that well with jeans. It was just hard to maneuver with these stiff things…especially when they were frozen. I preferred to wear a skirt if I didn't have a uniform. However, a uniform was much appreciated considering its aerodynamics.

"What size are you?" a redhead asked. I told her my size and she grinned. "Erin, that's your size. Why don't you let her borrow it?" Erin reluctantly gave me her figure skating outfit. It was ice blue with some sparkles here and there. Very simple and elegant…something I would wear.

"Thank you so much!" I replied, completely giddy.

"It's our pleasure. I'm Tawny," the redheaded girl said holding out her hand.

"I'm Casey," I said.

"So, what's the occasion?"

"Well, my stepbrother is teaching me how to play hockey and I needed a better outfit than these old things," I said. I saw Erin's face fall. "But don't worry! I won't ruin it." Erin, who had shoulder length black hair and ice cool blue eyes, softened a bit but still stared at me uncertainty on her face. I waved goodbye before going to change and then proceeding to the office in the front of the rink to get some skates. Derek was skating in circles when I stepped onto the ice. It's been a while since I have done this but hopefully I wasn't too rusty.

Derek stopped in his tracks when he saw me and his mouth fell slightly ajar. I looked down at myself and looked back up to see he was still dazed.

"What? Do I look bad?" I inquired as I spun around in a little twirl. He forced his mouth shut and coughed.

"Yeah, you look, uhh, great. Magnificent even," he stammered. I grinned and giggled a little bit. He shook his head and skated towards me. "So, how well are your skating abilities? I don't want to push you too far." I smirked at him.

"Well, let's find out shall we, _snuggle-bunny_?"

I stepped out around him with my right foot and proceeded to skate around in circles. Derek watched me from the center of the ice. Once I was feeling confident I attempted to do something I hadn't done since I was twelve: hydroblade/hydroplane. It's when you go on one foot backwards, put the other leg under like a back crossover, and put your hands on the ice so it seems like you're laying on the ice. I glanced up to see Derek staring at me with wide eyes. I smirked. That was hardly anything. I then decided to do a Bielman spin. I felt like stunning him. And that I did.

I skated towards Derek and stopped right in front of him with the same smirk on my face.

"So, how was that?"

"Wow…when did you learn how to do that?" he asked with his eyes still wide. I shrugged.

"When I was younger. Not only did I dance from a young age, I also figure skated. Haven't done any tricks since I was twelve but wow, that was exhilarating," I replied with a giant grin spread across my lips. "So, hockey now?" He nodded his head numbly and I clapped my hands.

"Ok, so first thing you need to know are the positions. There are two forwards, two defensemen, a centerman, and lastly a goalie. Simple enough so far?" I nodded my head.

"Which one are you?"

"Technically all of them…aside from the goalie, that's always Steve or Jerry." I stared at him confused. "In hockey, we all get an assigned position. However, we constantly interchange positions. It all depends on where you are. I could be a forward one second and a defenseman the next. But my assigned position is the centerman," he explained. Now I was getting it. "Center takes the face-offs and are on the offense. Forwards are offense as well, defensemen help the goalie defend their goal…and well, the goalie is self explanatory."

"Ok. Got it," I said with a salute. He grinned at that.

"Now, here are some basic rules to abide by…you see these three lines in the center?" I nodded my head. "You can't pass the blue lines first. The puck must pass it before you do and if you don't have the puck then you must wait until the person who does have it crosses it. It's fairly simple. There are three quarters unlike stupid football which is a gazillion hours," he muttered the last line. I giggled.

"Want to have a fun little match?" I nodded my head vigorously. He grabbed two hockey sticks from the side and handed one to me. "I'll go easy on you." I stuck my tongue out at him. He let me have the puck first and as I skated forward with it he skated backwards towards the goal. I swung the stick backwards and slipped and fell on my butt. He laughed but helped me up as well.

"It's not funny," I said. But I was laughing too. He held onto my shoulders while I balanced myself.

"You're putting too much force when you pull it back. Here, do it like this," he explained before showing me a demonstration. I pouted and he chuckled. Derek skated behind me and put his arms and hands over mine to help guide me. We were so close I could feel his breath on me. I felt my cheeks flush and I looked over my shoulder and grinned at him. He smiled back. I then looked back down to the puck. And together…we scored a goal.

"Thanks, Derek." He skated to get the puck.

"No problem. You're actually pretty good. With some practice you could probably kick Sam's butt," he said with a small chuckle. I couldn't contain my excitement.

"Really?!" He shrugged and nodded.

"Also, with those figure skating tricks of yours I bet you could incorporate them into hockey and really show those guys what you're made of." I got all warm and fuzzy inside.

"You think so?"

"I know so."

I dropped my hockey stick to fix my ponytail. It was starting to become loose. As I bent down to grab it, Derek stopped me.

"Another hockey rule, if you drop your hockey stick you can't pick it up. No one can. You have to either get a new one or wait until the next timeout," he said. My mouth dropped.

"That is so stupid!"

"Yeah, but a rule is a rule," he countered, mocking me. I placed my hands on my hips and smirked at him.

"What happened to 'I am the exception to all rules'?"

"_I_ am. But you're not." I rolled my eyes and picked up my stick. "VIOLATION! VIOLATION!" I giggled as I started to skate away but he skated after me. He dropped his stick and threw me over his shoulder.

"DER-EK! YOU BETTER NOT DROP ME!" I shouted. He laughed.

"HEY!" I heard a girl shout. Derek put me down but had his arms wrapped around my front to hold me to him. "We're leaving to get some food at the local diner. You guys want to come?" Tawny asked. I glanced towards Derek.

"Want to?"

"Why not? I'm starved."

I turned back to Tawny, Erin, and the third girl I had yet to meet.

"Yeah! We'll be ready in a few," I yelled back. Tawny grinned and the three girls headed out of the rink. With that, I headed towards the locker room in a great mood. This was a good Saturday.

* * *

A/N: HI READERS! Mkay. So I actually had to do some research for this chapter. I'm not exactly an expert on hockey but I had to learn something for this chapter. So my grandpa taught me some basic rules and stuff. So I hope I did an ok job on that aspect. Also, for those who don't know what a bielman spin is for figure skating just go to youtube and type it in. That's how I found out. :D I also am not an expert on figure skating. Hahaha. Anyways! I hope I did a good job on this chapter! And that you liked it. Next chapter will be the scene in the diner, and Casey will run into Derex again. DUN DUN DUN!!!!!!! Hehe.

**daisy617- **ROFL! PROBABLY! Now I will be hated by people named Derex everywhere! AHHHHHHH! AND I MISS-ETH YOU TOO ALYSSA!

**Disfordasey- **Haha....snuggle bunny...*snickers* My mom gave me that one. LOL!


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

I was currently ready to beat Erin and Heidi with a stick. I grounded my teeth together as I continued to watch the slut show. Excuse my French. Tawny and I sat across from each other, Derek sat beside me, Erin sat beside Derek, and Heidi was sitting across from Derek. However, the three of them were way off to the side so that Tawny and I were pretty much in our own little world and they were in theirs. Heidi, the third girl, leaned over the table practically flashing him. It was quite disgusting. Heidi was the typical type of girl you would see Derek with. She was around my height, had platinum blonde hair, had a busty chest, and seemed to be all around perfect. Not to mention highly flirty. It made me sick. Erin was slightly more reserved but not much better. I stabbed my fork into my food.

"Um, Casey…with pudding you normally eat it with a spoon," Tawny said warily. I looked over to her and grinned sheepishly.

"Sorry…wasn't paying attention."

"I noticed," she said smirking at me. Did she see me staring at Derek? I fidgeted in my seat and grabbed my spoon. "So, how do you and Derek know each other?"

"A couple of years ago my mom married his dad and we've been stepsiblings since tenth grade…we're seniors now," I explained. She nodded with a glint of amusement in her eyes.

"I would be thanking my mom if I were you," she laughed. I stared at her confused. What was she talking about? Derek was a nightmare. "Oh come on…even you must know how hot he is!" I was taken off guard. I was stammering to form a response. "If I were you, and I so wish I was, let's just say he wouldn't be single." She winked at me before taking a bite out of her pie. I glanced over at him. Did she just imply that she's ok with stepsiblings…being together?

"DEREK! You have got to, like, try some of this!" Heidi squealed, more like screeched, to Derek while holding out her finger for him to taste some of her chocolate pudding. I squinted at her. Skank whore. AH! I'M SORRY!

"Nah. I'm allergic to chocolate," he replied shaking his head. I stared at him confused. Derek _loves_ chocolate. And Derek loves girls. And a girl just offered him chocolate in which he'd have to _lick _it off of her. What was going on here? Heidi pouted and then licked it off herself slowly as if to try and seduce him but he didn't notice. Or if he did he didn't show it. I turned back to Tawny and she was still smirking at me.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing," she grinned. I glowered at her. "Ok, ok. I just seem to be getting this vibe between you guys. Especially after seeing you two at the rink."

"How much did you see?"

"Enough. So what is the deal?" she asked leaning in. I stared at Tawny trying to figure out whether or not I should tell her. She seemed trusting enough and after what she said I didn't think telling her about our marriage would gross her out.

"Ok. I'll tell you but please don't say anything to anyone else," I started. She nodded her head and leaned in closer, eager to hear what I was going to say. "What you have to realize about Derek and I is that we never get along…well usually. Constant bickering and such. Not to mention he seems to take the pleasure of making my life hell…and vice versa. So, our family was taking a trip to Vegas and as a joke we decided to- OH MY GOD!" I had to stop mid-story because of who came walking into the diner. I turned to Derek while Tawny stared at me confused.

"Derek! I need to get a refill on my soda," I said firmly. He looked at me weirdly.

"Ok…"

"You need to also," I said widening my eyes in hopes of him understanding my code.

"No I don't," he replied while pointing to his ¾'s filled cup. I knocked his glass over, in which the drink spilled in the direction of Heidi and Erin. Score!

"Now you do!" I grabbed Derek by the elbow and dragged him to the soda machine.

"What was that for?" Derek complained. I rolled my eyes and pointed to the person searching for a seat. Derek immediately understood and ran his hand through his hair. "Um, uh, what do we do?" I shrugged. As if on cue, Paul saw us and started heading this way. Derek quickly entwined his fingers with mine and we stood as close as we could.

"Well, what a funny coincidence. How are you two doing?" Paul asked with a small grin. Derek took the reins.

"We're good. We were just grabbing some lunch. I was teaching Casey how to play hockey earlier. She's pretty good," he said while removing his hand from mine and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. I smiled.

"Great! You two are spending time together. That's good. Very good. Well, I'm meeting the misses here. I'll see you, Casey, on Monday. And Derek on counseling days," Paul replied with a wave and nod. I waved goodbye and Derek gave a guy head nod. Once Paul was seated out of our section I slumped and leaned against Derek with relief. That was a close one.

As Derek and I started to head back to our seats I heard someone call my name. I glanced over to my left to see Derex alone at a table not too far from ours. I grinned and waved. He motioned me to come sit over there and I glanced at Derek.

"I'm going to go sit with Derex for a little bit," I told him before heading over to the other table. "Hi, Derex. What are you doing here?"

"My band and I were rehearsing and I came over here to grab some lunch for everyone. Just waiting for them to finish up the food. What about you?" he said while beaming his magnificent smile at me. I nearly swooned at his accent.

"I'm here with my stepbrother and some friends. You're in a band?" I asked while leaning over the table slightly. His grin widened.

"Yeah. I'm the lead guitarist and singer. Some band hired me for some battle of the bands contest at Smelly Nelly's." My mouth dropped.

"NO WAY! My band is performing there too!"

"NUMBER FORTY SIX!" the woman behind the register shouted. Derex looked up and then back at me.

"That's me. See you later, Casey."

XOX

"Casey, you seem like you're in a good mood, what's going on?" Emily asked as she approached me after school on Monday. I was putting my books in my locker with a grin.

"HI, EM!" I practically shouted at her. "I had a fabulous weekend! Derek taught me how to play hockey on Saturday. We're going to practice some more today and he's going to try to round up some guys so we can have a scrimmage. Cool, huh?"

"Wow. Didn't know you could play hockey," she laughed. I giggled.

"Me either! It's fun though. You should play too!"

"I'm good. But I'll come for support," she offered. I pulled her into a hug.

"Thanks, Em. Oh! Got to get to practice. Wouldn't want to make the coach angry," I joked. She chuckled slightly and I shut my locker to go to the hockey rink. I was too busy trying to remember the things Derek taught me that I didn't realize someone was in front of me. And therefore, producing another collision. "I'm so sor- Hi, Derex!"

"Hey, Casey," he replied with a twinkling smile. "Is this how you pick up guys? By slamming into them?" I giggled and twirled my hair.

"No. I was just thinking…I'm heading over to the ice skating rink so Derek and I can practice. He's helping me learn how to play hockey," I explained shyly. His smile grew even wider if it were possible. Gosh, he was so adorable. I dreamily sighed in my head.

"Well, if you want some extra help I could show you. I've played hockey since I was a little tot," he replied while leaning against one of the lockers. My face lit up.

"Really?!" He nodded his head. "That'd be great. Maybe we could talk about it over lunch tomorrow?"

"Great. It's a date," he said before waving goodbye and walking away. I did a little happy dance once I was positive he turned the corner. Things were looking good for me.

"Casey?" I turned behind me to see Emily. "What are you doing?"

"DEREX AND I ARE HAVING LUNCH TOMORROW, EM! DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS?!" I squealed. She smiled slightly.

"That's cool." My jaw dropped.

"It's flippin' fantastic! He is sooo cute! And he plays hockey! How cool is that?" I gushed to her. She stood there confused for a moment. Why wasn't she happy for me?! "What?"

"Nothing…it's just, isn't Derex starting to remind you of someone?" I pondered it for a moment and then shrugged. "His name is _Derex_, one letter different than _Derek_. He could practically be Derek's twin…he plays hockey. What's next? Does he have a band or something?" Emily said slightly enraged.

"He does have a band and what are you trying to say?"

"Are you sure you only like Derex because he's practically a Derek clone? And maybe, just maybe, he's a safer bet than Derek?" she prodded. I opened my mouth and shut it again. I didn't really know what to say to that.

"Emily, what are you talking about?" I flat out asked. I was sick of people beating around the bush and speaking in codes. It was started to really get on my nerves.

"Casey, you don't see what everyone else sees when you and Derek are together," she started. I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at her.

"And what exactly does everybody see?" I spat.

"Look, if you don't know then I won't point it out. I'm sorry I even brought it up. I'll see you tomorrow." With that, she left me in the hallway alone.

XOX

I made my way to the rink after changing into a skirt, tank top, and light jacket. When I arrived, Derek was already there skating around. His face lit up when he saw me. I smiled back and couldn't wait to get this started. He handed me a stick and we skated around passing the puck back and forth in silence. He knew something was up and was giving me the distance I needed.

"So, I was thinking about what song we should sing for the competition at Smelly Nelly's," Derek said. I shrugged.

"We could sing the one we sang at the Battle of the Bands competition from school," I deadpanned. He shook his head.

"No, we need something new. Something fresh. I was thinking you and me could write a new one tonight maybe? Since Ralph and Sam are about as useful as string cheese," he said smirking. He got a smile out of me from that. I nodded my head. "Are you ok? I know this is out of my territory to ask but you seem really distant."

"I don't know. Emily was droning about something earlier and I guess it just has me thinking about some stuff. I'm sorry," I said. He stopped suddenly and let the puck pass him. I stopped too and stared at him oddly. "What?"

"Did you just…apologize?! SOMEONE CALL THE PRESS!" he shouted. I shoved his shoulder.

"Shut up," I whined while grinning. "I had an idea for the scrimmage." Derek came over and skated circles around me.

"Do tell," he said with an old, stuffy British accent. It made me laugh.

"It's a maneuver from figure skating but I'm warning you…you'd have to be comfortable with lifting me," I informed him cautiously. He chuckled.

"I already do that all the time."

"I mean, lifting me properly. It involves having your hands near…certain areas," I said shyly as heat filled my face.

"Gumdrop, we're married and were halfway to making sweet sweet love. I am so not complaining," he retorted with a wink. My cheeks felt even warmer. "Did I just make you _blush_?"

"NO!" I shouted smacking his upper arm. He just laughed at me and started skating around. "And must you remind me of _your _plan every day?!" He paused for a second before nodding his head. I rolled my eyes. Derek stopped in the center of the ice and held his hands out like the girl from Titanic. It made me giggle.

"CASEY IS IN LOVE!" he screamed to the ceiling. My mouth dropped. Was he insane?! Someone might hear! "THAT'S RIGHT! CASEY, IS IN LOVE WITH DERE-" Before he could finish his sentence I tackled him to the floor…err, ice.

"Are you CRAZY?!" I shouted in his face. He laughed.

"I was going to say, 'Casey, is in love with Derex'. Sheesh. Give me some credit, why don't you?"

"I am not in love with him. Gosh."

"Could have fooled me."

I rolled my eyes and when they fell back onto his face he was looking at me perplexed. And suddenly it was like we were in a trance…and I became more aware of the fact that I was lying on top of him. I felt myself leaning in slowly. My eyes began to flutter as they closed and I could feel his breath on my lips. Our lips barely brushed each other when someone shouted Derek's name. My eyes snapped open and I looked up to see one of the guys from the hockey team.

"Tell your girlfriend to get off the ice! We're practicing in ten minutes!" he shouted before disappearing into the locker rooms. I felt my cheeks heat up and I immediately got off of Derek and held a hand to help him get up. He took my offer and smiled at me awkwardly before scratching the back of his neck.

"Um, I'll just go now. Thanks. I had a good time again." He nodded his head and waved goodbye as I skated to the exit. What was happening to me? To…us? I needed to talk to Paul.

XOX

I barged into Paul's office and was surprised to find him still there. It was forty five minutes after school let out. He stared up at me shocked and cocked his head to the side.

"What are you doing here?!" I shouted. He chuckled.

"I had to stay late to finish some paper work. I could ask you the same thing though," he replied while motioning for me to sit down. I complied. "What's up?"

"Everything, Paul! I'm in way over my head. So there's this guy that's been on my mind lately. And I've developed a small portion of feelings for him, except he's not my husband. Speaking of Derek, I don't know what's going on with us. We were in the rink and I think we just had a moment. Duh, of course we did. We just barely kissed. Before we were interrupted. Stupid, MENROE! But that is beside the point. I like Derex, that new exchange student. I mean, he's nice, cute, plays hockey, and he's in a band too! But then Emily was talking to me and saying that Derex is like…a clone of Derek practically and that the only reason I like him is because he _is_ like Derek except without the risk. The risk being that by law we are related when we couldn't be far from related. And I'm starting to think she's right because if I didn't know any better I'd say I was falling…fa- NO! I AM NOT! But I just…don't know what to do!" I screamed at him. Once I was done I had realized that not only was I pacing back and forth but that Paul was staring at me stunned. I _really, really_ needed to start fixing my ranting problems.

"Um, wow. That is quite a lot of feelings there. I suppose you should take the time and think about whether or not you really like Derex," Paul said calmly. How he could stay calm after I just released a bombshell on him is beyond me.

"So…should I cancel Derex and I's lunch date tomorrow?"

"If you feel that would help put your thoughts in order then that'd be a good idea. It's up to you," he replied with a small smile.

"WHY CAN'T YOU EVER JUST TELL ME WHAT TO DO?!" I shouted before slamming the door behind me as I left.

* * *

A/N: Wootness! Two chapters in one day! I am so proud of myself. Hehe. Anyways, I hope you guys liked this chapter! I did-eth my best! And oh my gosh! I know you all hate Derex with a passion but in a review from Miss Ginny Granger, she has stated the best hatred statement towards Derex so far. And it was too hysterical not to share (in reality its probably not as funny as I believe it is but I SWEAR! IT'S SO EFFING FUNNY!) "Hm, can Derex fall down a manhole or something, because I really don't like  
him much..?" You my friend just made my day. Hahahaha.

And OH! ECIsMyHero pointed out a mistake from last chapter. I wrote three quarters...when its really three PERIODS. HAHAHA. I knew that but my mind must have been somewhere else. Thank you for pointing out that three quarters don't make a whole. HAHAHA! Anyways, I probably won't update tomorrow but who knows really? THANKS FOR ALL THE REVIEWS YOU GUYS!

**Disfordasey- **I really don't have much to say in this shout out but I feel its kind of tradition just to give you a shout out. Plus you seem to get overly excited when I do...so its amusing to me. Hahaha. So...HI!

**A Dream Worth Dreaming**- Thanks again for the ideas for petnames! I used gumdrop in this chapter. Hehehe.


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N: PLEASE READ! For the song during the chapter, you need to keep these in mind:**

**Bold= Derek singing, Normal= Casey singing, Italics= Them singing together and the chorus. Okies...proceed to read. :)**

Chapter 10

Earlier that day, Paul had given me a lot to think about. Ok. Technically he didn't, but you get what I mean. I sighed as I scribbled another paragraph into my journal. Mind you, this was my extra top secret journal. The one I had specifically bought so that I could write secrets that were especially true to my heart. I wasn't giving Derek a chance to read this…especially since most of the journal consisted of thoughts of him. I pouted and decided to flip through some of my entries.

_Dear Journal,_

_It's been a couple days after we moved in this dump. It's been pretty rough and I'm kind of confused. Derek seems to hate me a lot when I haven't even done anything to him. So, it irritates me that he keeps picking on me. Ugh. Why can't he pick on someone else? Sheesh. _

_I __**HATE**__ him._

I laughed at that entry. I was pretty heated that night. At the time the entry was written, I was convinced that I actually hated him. But to be honest, I have never hated him. Granted he has made me angry, annoyed, and completely infuriated…but lately I was starting to think he was changing me…for the better.

I mean, no longer did I worry every second about my grades. I learned to _live a little dangerously_. For heaven's sake, I was sixteen and married to my stepbrother. The only way this could be any wilder was if I was pregnant. Thankfully I wasn't.

As I flipped through some more entries, I noticed a pattern. Every single one mentioned Derek. Actually, every single one was about him. My eyes stared at this journal stunned. What did this mean? Did I really think about him _that_ much? A knock to my door broke me out of my stupor. I quickly hid my journal and sat at my computer desk.

"Come in," I called. The door opened and my husband stepped into the room. I weakly smiled, unsure of what to do or how to act. Things felt a little awkward after practically kissing him earlier in the ice rink. "Yes?"

"We agreed that we were going to work on the song for the Battle of the Bands competition," he stated. I nodded, remembering the plans we made before our moment. I motioned for him to sit down on my bed while I pulled out a piece of paper and pencil. I cleared my throat and smiled. If Derek was brave enough to pretend like nothing happened, so could I. Hello? I'm the actress here.

"First, we need to decide what kind of song to create. While party-ish songs are always amazing, ballads seem to win people over," I said. Derek mused this over before snapping his fingers.

"I got it! We can make a mix of both. A rockin' love ballad. We put some of your flavor in it and some of mine…it'll be gold."

I grinned. "That's a great idea, Derek!"

The next few minutes were silent as we wracked our brains on what to write. You may think making a rocking love ballad would be easy…but it's so not. I tapped my pencil impatiently. How could I think about the song when the only thing running through my mind was that damn kiss?! I mentally growled and rubbed my forehead.

Wait a second! I grinned and started scribbling across the paper. I was such an idiot!

"Whoa. Looks like someone was hit by inspiration," Derek chuckled as he watched me frantically write my ideas on paper. I don't know why I hadn't thought of this before. After the first verse was written I looked up to find he was waiting, eager to hear what I had so far. I cleared my throat and smiled.

"Ok. So I start off with:

You tasted so bittersweet

Like cotton candy and the summer heat

Together we light an eternal flame

One of magic and shame

And then you sing:

It was something unexpected

When you cast me under a spell

I knew right then

I was going to hell

And then I continue with:

A stray thought

A heavy load

I never knew

Something could happen

Down the road."

Derek was grinning ear to ear.

"That's amazing! Oh! I think I got something for the chorus. Ok, so since the first verse is totally melodic, we can totally rock it in the chorus. Maybe something like…" he trailed off chewing his bottom lip. I waited, staring up into his brown eyes. "Ok! For the chorus, I can sing the first time and you harmonize me and then the second chorus we reverse it, and the last time we sing together. Sound good?"

"Yeah! That's perfect. So, what did you have in mind?"

"Try this:

Together

For an eternity

Making history

But babe

All we need is you and me

Together, Together

Oooooh."

My jaw dropped.

"Was it that bad?" he asked nervously. I shook my head profusely.

"No! It was awesome!"

It only took us another thirty minutes to finish the song after that. Lemme tell you, the Battle of the Bands contestants aren't gonna know what hit them.

"Let's try it all together," Derek suggested. I nodded and we both looked over the paper, our heads mere inches apart.

"You tasted so bittersweet

Like cotton candy and the summer heat

Together we light an eternal flame

One of magic and shame

**It was something unexpected**

**When you cast me under a spell**

**I knew right then**

**I was going to hell**

A stray thought

A heavy load

I never knew

Something could happen

Down the road

_Together_

_For an eternity_

_Making history_

_But babe_

_All we need is you and me_

_Together, Together_

_Oooooh…_"

I glanced to my left. He started the second verse and I couldn't help but grin. He always complained that he couldn't sing when that couldn't be far from true. He was actually a great singer.

"…**All I need is you**

**Others don't mean a thing**

**I don't care what they say**

**This isn't just a fling**

All I need is you

They may call us crazy

I don't care what they say

This all feels hazy…"

I closed my eyes and let myself truly get into the song. Songs always sounded better when you didn't hold back any emotion. And one of my methods was to close my eyes and really think about the inspiration of the song. I was happy no one could see inside my thoughts because all that was running through my head was my wedding. It kind of made me curious as to what Derek was thinking about.

"…_Together_

_For an eternity_

_Making history_

_But babe_

_All we need is you and me_

_Together, Together_

_Oooooh_

**Hold on tight**

**It's gonna be one hell of a night**

The day is like putting on a show

Whoa, whoa

**But the darkness is where we can go**

**Whoa, whoa**

_Together_

_For an eternity_

_Making history_

_But babe_

_All we need is you and me_

_Together, Together_

_Oooooh_

You tasted so bittersweet

Like cotton candy and the summer heat

_Together we light an eternal flame_

_One of magic and shame_."

My eyes fluttered open to find that Derek was staring at me with intense passion. My lips parted as I tried to come up with something to say. "Good job"? "That went well"? "See you tomorrow"? But before anything good enough came into my head, his head tilted to the side and he started to slowly lean in.

"Uhh, that went well. Good job. See you tomorrow," I managed to stammer. He stopped in his tracks and nodded before standing up.

"Right. Uhh, night."

XOX

The next day I decided to tell Derex the truth about my situation. It wasn't fair to anyone to keep lying to him. There's nothing worse than starting a relationship on a lie. I would probably lose Derex forever after he learned I was married but I guess that meant he wasn't the one for me. I sighed. Why did doing the right thing have to suck so much? I hadn't felt this much guilt since I had to confess to Trevor that our feelings were based off of a bet. Yikes.

And to make me feel ten times worse, I was totally wigging out about what happened last night. Neither of us talked about it this morning, which meant we were pretending like it didn't happen. But it did. Well, almost did…Maybe we were just really into the song…ugh. Who knows? Which is why it'd be best if I just set Derex straight.

As I was putting some books away in my locker, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around, surprised to see it was Emily. She had a small smile on her face.

"Look, Case, I wanted to apologize for yesterday. I shouldn't have flipped on you like that," she said sincerely. "Do you forgive me?" I grinned and pulled her into a hug.

"Of course I forgive you. In fact, you were right," I admitted with a sigh. She pulled away from me.

"I was?"

"Yeah. I shouldn't be leading Derex on without letting him know I'm married. Hopefully he'll understand but who knows?"

"Uhh, Case. That's not the point I was trying to ma-"

"It doesn't matter because at least I'll be doing the right thing," I continued. "Thanks so much, Em!"

With that, I rushed off in search of Derex.

* * *

A/N: HEEEEEEEY readers. Hahaha. A couple things...I know it has been truly forever since I last updated but I have been busy..no joke. I had to worry about my finals, the SATs, trying to find a car, and other things as well. But, I finally found some inspiration to write. I hope this chapter was good. It feels kinda meh to me. But hopefully you guys liked it. :D I'll try to update quicker next time. I feel really bad about taking so long. Especially since this fandom feels like its dying. :( Don't worry. I will never stop loving dasey and supporting it. Muahahahaha. :D

And OH MY GOSH! 298 reviews. That is a record for me. You guys are so awesome. I loveth you all. :D


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